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'   SANIA  BARSARA   • 


STUDIES    IN    RUSKIN: 


SOME    ASPECTS 


WORK    AND    TEACHING    OF    JOHN    RUSKIN, 

HIT II    REPRODUCTIONS    OF 

DRAIl'IXGS    BY   MR.    RUSKIN    IN    THE    RUSKIN 

DRAWING    SCHOOL.    OXFORD. 


■tl  ,7     E.    liOEHU,    RA. 

"  1,   Oxford). 


STUDIES    IN    RUSKIN: 


SOME    ASPECTS 


WORK    AND    TEACHING    OF   JOHN    RUSKIN. 


EDWARD   T.   COOK,   M.A., 

AUTHOR     OF 
'A     POPULAR     HANDBOOK     TO     THE     NATIONAL     GALLERY.' 


WJTH   REPRODUCTIONS   OF 

DRAWINGS   BY  MR.    RUSKIN  IN   THE    RUSKIH 

DRAWING   SCHOOL,    OXFORD. 


GEORGE     ALLEN, 

SUNNY  SIDE,      ORPINGTON, 
AND 
BELL      YARD,      TEMPLE      BAR,      LONDON. 
1890. 

[AH  rights  reserved,'] 


PRINTED    BY 

IIAZELL,   WATSON,  AND  VINEY,   LD., 

LONDON    AND  AYLESBURY. 


PREFACE. 


The  object  of  the  First  Part  of  this  little  book 
is  not,  it  will  be  seen,  critical  or  controversial, 
but  expository.  My  desire  has  been  to  discuss 
not  lioiv,  but  what,  Ruskin  has  written.  For 
several  reasons,  such  definition  seemed  to  me  a 
thing  worth  attempting  at  this  time.  Mr.  Ruskin 
has  of  late  years  written  so  voluminously,  and 
on  subjects  so  multifarious,  that  the  accidental 
and  the  temporary  have  been  like  to  overlay 
what  is  essential  and  permanent  in  his  teaching. 
His  writings  open  a  vista  into  a  great  forest, 
but  there  has  been  some  danger  of  not  seeing 
the  forest  for  the  trees.  This  danger,  which 
always  exists  when  an  author  spreads  himself 
over  a  large  area,  has  probably  been  increased 
by   the   increasing  popularity  of  Mr.   Ruskin's 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  or  (CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


VI  PREFACE. 

works,  and  by  the  cult  which  has  grown  up 
around  his  personality.  The  most  ardent  are 
not  always  the  most  di.scriminating  of  readers. 
"  The  fact  is,"  Mr.  Ruskin  somewhere  says, 
"  that  I  have  always  had  three  different  ways  of 
writing — one,  with  the  single  view  of  making 
myself  understood,  in  which  I  necessarily  omit 
a  great  deal  of  what  comes  into  m}-  head  ; 
another,  in  which  I  saj'  what  I  think  ought 
to  be  said  ;  and  my  third  way  of  writing  is  to 
say  all  that  comes  into  m3-  head,  for  my  own 
pleasure."  .Amongst  the  things  that  come 
most  freely  into  Mr.  Ruskin's  head,  and  that 
give  him  most  pleasure,  are  somewhat  wilful 
paradoxes,  uttered  often,  it  would  seem,  with 
the  single  view  of  making  himself  misun- 
derstood. On  the  other  hand,  what  sel- 
dom comes  into  Mr.  Ruskin's  head,  or  what, 
if  it  does  come,  is  generally  dismissed  as 
giving  him  no  pleasure,  is  the  desirability  of 
saving  clauses  and  qualifying  statements.  The 
consequence  is  that  nothing  is  easier  for  a 
captious  critic  than  to  convict  Mr.  Ruskin  of 
inconsistencies,  and  for  a  superficial  reader 
than  to  fall  into  bewilderment.      It  has  seemed 


PREFACE.  Vn 

to  me,  therefore,  that  I  might  be  doing  a  real 
service,  in  these  days  of  Ruskin  Societies  and 
Ruskin  Reading  Guilds,  by  attempting  to  set 
forth  what  appeared  to  me  to  be  the  main 
and  essential  drift  of  his  teaching. 

The  pages  devoted  to  this  object  were 
originally  written  to  form  part  of  a  series  of 
articles  on  "  Modern  Gospels,"  contributed  by 
different  hands  to  a  daily  periodical.  Having 
decided  to  republish  the  "  Gospel  according 
to  Ruskin,"  I  thought  it  might  be  well  to 
carry  the  design  of  the  "  Gospel "  chapters 
a  step  farther,  by  appending  some  account 
of  Mr.  Raskin's  Acts.  Mr.  Ruskin,  like  his 
master,  Carlyle,  has  loudly  proclaimed  him- 
self a  Moral  Teacher,  and  in  the  case  of 
moral  teachers  one  has  a  right  to  inquire 
how  far  they  have  practised  what  they 
preach.  I  have  not,  however,  attempted  any 
estimate  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  life  and  character, 
a  task  for  which  the  time  has  happily  not 
arrived.  My  object  has  only  been  to  show 
such  aspects  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  public  work  as 
are  in  themselves  of  public  interest,  and  inci- 
dentally   throw    light   on    his    teaching.     The 


VIU  PREFACE. 

best  claim,  indeed,  to  honour  consists,  in  Mr. 
Ruskin's  case,  as  in  that  of  all  great  teachers, 
not  so  much  in  what  he  has  himself  done,  as 
in  what  he  has  enabled  others  to  think,  and 
feel,  and  do.  The  highest  tribute  to  Mr.  Rus- 
kin's Gospel  is  to  be  found  in  the  thoughts 
he  has  inspired  and  in  the  characters  he  has 
helped  to  mould.  Nevertheless,  many  of  Mr. 
Ruskin's  own  schemes  have  in  themselves  a 
positive  value  in  their  generation.  They  may 
serve  as  sign-posts,  pointing  the  way  to  social 
progress,  and  they  have  shown  how  practical 
realization  may  be  given  to  what  the  late  Prince 
Leopold  truly  and  eloquently  described  as  the 
last  and  greatest  precept  in  Mr.  Ruskin's  Gospel 
— the  precept,  namely,  that  "the  highest  wisdom 
and  the  highest  treasure  need  not  be  costly  or 
exclusive ;  that  the  greatness  of  a  nation  must 
be  measured,  not  alone  by  its  wealth  and  ap- 
parent power,  but  by  the  degree  in  which  its 
people  have  learned  together,  in  the  great  world 
of  books,  of  art,  and  of  nature,  pure  and  enno- 
bling joys." 

Dccoiil'cr  jist,  1 SS9. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 
PREFACE  V 


PART     I. 

"  THE  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  RUSKIN." 
CHAPTER  I. 

PRINCIPLES    OF    ART  .......  1 

CHAPTER  II. 

APPLICATIONS    TO    LIFE       .......       22 


PART  II. 
SOME  ASPECTS  OF  MR.  RUSKIN'S  WORK. 

CHAPTER  I. 

MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD  ......       38 


PAGE 
.       62 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  n. 

THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL 

CHAPTER  111. 

4MR.    KUSKIN    AND    TllK    WOliKIXG    JlKx's    COLLEGE       .  .     122 

CHAPTER  IV. 

51K.    KUSKINS    ".MAY    QUEENS  " 12? 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE     ST.     GEOKOe's    GUILD    (willi    SOIIIC    accoiiiil    of   the 

"  Rtiskin  Muscimi"  at  Sheffield)   .         .         .         .140 

CHAPTER  VI. 

SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS  .....     l6l 

§    I.  The  Langdale  Linen  Industry      .         .  .164 

§  2.  "  St.  George's "  Cloth  .         .  .173 

§  3.   "  George  Thomson  &  Co."  .         .         .         .   17S 

CHAPTER  VII. 

MR.  KUSKIN  AND  THE  BOOKSELLERS     ....  1S4 


.MM'ENDICES. 

NOTES    ON  MR.    RUSKIN' S   OXFORD 
LECTURES. 

I.    "readings    in    'MODERN    PAINTERS  '    "  .  .  .    2O5 


CONTENTS. 


II,    "the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND 
III.    A    LECTURE    ON    PATIENCE. 

IV.  "birds,  and  how  to  paint  them' 

V.  A  LECTURE  ON  LANDSCAPE 


PAGE 
.  211 

.  264 

.  272 

.  28q 


REPRODUCTIONS   OF  DRAWINGS 
MR.   RUSKIN. 

I.  MARKET    PLACE,    ABBEVILLE      . 

II.  PINE    FOREST,    MONT    CENIS 

III.  LUCERNE  .... 

IV.  OLD    BRIDGE    AT    LUCERNE 
V.  FRIEOURG,    SWITZERLAND 

VI.  GLACIER    DES    BOSSONS,    CH.^MONI.V 

VII.  GR.\ND    CANAL,    VENICE 

VIII.  CASTLE    OF    HAPSBURG 

IX.  KINGFISHER      . 

X.  PLANE    LEAVES 

XI.  SAN    MICHELE,    LUCCA 

XII.  AGRIMONY    LEAVES  . 

XIII.  GLEN    FINLAS  . 


BY 

■  300 

•  302 

■  304 

•  306 
.  308 

■  310 

•  312 

■  314 
.  3'6 
.  318 
.  320 

■  322 

•  324 


325 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


1.  John    Ruskin.       From    n    bust    by    Sir  J.    E. 

Boeinn,  R.A Frontispiece 

II.  The  Ruskin  Drawing  School  :  Interior 

To  face  page     73 

III.  The  May  Queen's  Gold  Cross.     After  a  design 

by  Arthur  Severn         .         ■       To  face  page  129 

IV.  The  May  Queen's  Procession.     From  a  drawing 

by  Edith  Capper    ....  Page  132 

V.  The    St.    George's    Museum,    Walkley  :    Ex- 
terior ....       To  face  page   146 

VI.  The    St.    George's    Museum,    'V\''alkley  :    In- 
terior ....       To  face  page  148 

VII.  The  Ruskin  Museum,  Meersbrook  Park  :  E.\- 

terior  ....        To  face  page   1 58 


XIV  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Vlll.  The  "Bishop's  House,"  Meersbrook  Pakk 

To  face  poi^e  159 

IX.  The  Ruskin  Museum.  Meersbrook  Tauk  :   In- 
terior OF  Picture-gallery      To  face  page  160 

X.  Peas.\nt-\voman    Spinning.      Fioiii   a   drazviiig 

by  Erlith   Capper  ....  Page  1 66 

XI.  "St.  Martin's,"  Laxgd.^le.      From   a   dra-aiing 

by  Edith  Capper  ....  Page  16S 

XII.  "Old  John,"  the  Weaver.      From  a  drawing 

by  Edith  Capper  ....  Page   171 

XIII.  St.  George's  Mill,  La.xey,  Isli:  of  Man  (with 
fac-similc  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  Inscription) 

^  To  face  page  175 


NOTE. 

Several  chapters  in  this  book  originally  appeared  in  the 
Pall  Mall  Gazette.  To  the  proprietors  of  that  journal  I  am 
indebted  for  kind  permission  to  reprint  them  here.  For 
the  chapter  on  "The  Langdale  Linen  Industry"  I  am 
indebted  to  my  friend  Mr.  Albert  Fleming. 


The  Illustrations  of  the  Walkley  Museum,  Meersbrook 
Park,  etc.,  are  from  photographs  kindly  taken  for  me  by 
Mr.  B.  Carr  and  Mr.  C.  Bradshaw,  under  the  supervision 
of  Mr.  William  White,  the  Curator  of  the  Ruskin  Museum. 
For  permission  to  engrave  Sir  J.  E.  Boehm's  bust  of  Mr. 
Ruskin  and  the  Interior  of  the  Ruskin  Drawing  School 
I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  A.  Macdonald,  the  Master  of  the 
School . 


Permission  to  reproduce  a  selection  from  Mr.  Ruskin's 
Drawings  in  the  Ruskin  Drawing  School  has  been  kindly 
accorded  to  me  by  the  Curators  of  the  University  Galleries, 
and  by  Mr.  Macdonald,  the  Master  of  the  School.  To  Mr. 
Macdonald  I  am  greatly  indebted  for  much  help  in  this 
matter,  as  well  as  for  other  kind  offices. 


PART   I. 

THE    GOSPEL    ACCORDING    TO 
RUSKIN." 


CHAPTER    I. 


PRINCIPLES    OF    ART. 


Is  there  a  Gospel  according  to  Ruskin  at  all  ?  is  there  a 
The  very  genius  of  Mr.  Ruskin  as  a  writer '^Jjj' '^"^^ 
makes  the  question  necessary.  Darwin  *  was 
no  orator  as  Mr.  Ruskin  is.  There  was  no  gla- 
mour of  fine  writing,  no  film  of  ingenious  rhe- 
toric, to  lend  factitious  importance  or  interest 
to  the  "  Origin  of  Species."  Darwin  was  the 
deliverer  of  a  gospel,  or  he  was  nothing.  But 
Mr.  Ruskin  may  be  a  giant  of  prose  writing, 
and  yet  have  no  gospel  to  deliver.     All  is  not 

*  The  preceding  article  in  the  series  of  which  this  paper 
formed  part  was  on  "The  Gospel  according  to  Darwin." 

1 


2  '    THE    GOSPEL    ACCORDING    TO    RUSKIN. 

gold  in  thought  that  glisters  in  words.  Tt  is 
with  fine  words  as  Mr.  Ruskin  says  of  painted 
drapery,  "  As  long  as  they  are  in  their  due 
service  and  subjection — while  their  folds  are 
formed  by  the  motion  of  men,  and  their  lustre 
adorns  the  nobleness  of  men — so  long  the  lustre 
and  folds  are  lovely.  But  cast  them  from  the 
human  limbs — golden  circlet  and  silken  tissue 
are  withered ;  the  dead  leaves  of  autumn  are 
more  precious  than  they."  How,  then,  is  it 
with  the  golden  circlets  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  periods 
and  the  silken  tissues  of  his  phrases  ?  He  has 
shown  us  a  new  instrument  of  expression,  but 
has  he  opened  any  new  field  of  thought  or 
touched  any  fresh  spring  of  action  ?  Is  it 
possible  to  speak  of  a  "Gospel  according  to 
Ruskin "  in  anything  approaching  the  same 
sense  as  that  in  which  we  speak  of  a  "  Gospel 
according  to  Darwin  "  ?  Are  there  Ruskinians 
as  well  as  Darwinians  ?  Mr.  Ruskin's  own 
answer  to  the  question,  when  put  in  that 
form,  is  a  decided  negative.  Many  men,  he 
says,  have  "  hope  of  being  remembered  as  the 
discoverers  of  some  important  truth,  or  the 
founders  of  some  exclusive  sj'Stem  called  after 
their  own   names.      Hui    1    ha\r  ikmi    ajiplied 


PRINCIPLES    OF    ART.  3 

myself  to  discover  anything,  being  content  to 

praise  vvhiat   had  already  been   discovered  ;  so 

that  no  true  disciple  of  mine  will    ever  be  a 

Ruskinian."    But  now  hear  some  other  opinions. 

"  Do  you  look  out,"  wrote  George  Eliot  to  her 

friend  Miss  Sarah  Hennell,  "  for  Ruskin's  books 

whenever  they  appear  ?  .  .   .  I  venerate  him  as 

one  of  the  great  teachers  of  the  age.   .  .  .  He 

teaches    with    the    inspiration    of    a    Hebrew 

prophet."     "  Do  you  read  Ruskin's  '  Fors  Cla- 

vigera' ?  "  Carlyle  asked  of  Emerson.    "If  you 

don't,  do,   1  advise  you.     Also  .  .  .  whatever 

else  he  is  now  writing.    There  is  nothing  going 

on  among  us  as  notable  to  me." 

These  estimates  of  Mr.  Ruskin  himself  on  ^noid Gos- 
pel with 

the  one  side,  and  of  his  admirers  on  the  other,  "1Y^!!?p''" 

'  1  cations. 

are  not  contradictory.  The  Gospel  according 
to  Ruskin  is  one  of  glad  tidings,  but  not  of 
"  news."  What  George  Eliot  admired  was  his 
teaching  of  "  Truth,  Sincerity,  and  Nobleness." 
This  is  an  "  old,  old  story."  But  every  age 
requires  the  old  story  to  be  applied  to  its  new 
interests  and  its  new  temptations.  The  great- 
ness of  Mr.  Ruskin  depends  on  the  degree  in 
which  he  has  met  this  twofold  need.  He  took 
the  Gospel  of  Truth,  Sincerity,  and  Nobleness 


4  THE    GOSPEL    ACCORDING    TO    RUSKIN. 

as  he  had  learned  it  from  Carl3le,  and  applied 
it  to  a  new  sphere  untouched  by  Carlyle  and 
of  increasing  importance  in  this  time.  And 
secondly,  founding  his  Gospel  of  Art  upon 
Principles  of  Life,  he  re-applied  that  Gospel  in 
its  turn  to  counteract  the  besetting  materialism 
and  commercialism  of  his  age.  In  this  chapter 
an  attempt  will  be  made  to  set  out,  as  far 
as  possible  in  the  preacher's  own  words,  the 
Ruskinian  Gospel  of  Art;  whilst  in  a  second 
chapter  some  of  its  leading  applications  to  poli- 
tical and  social  questions  will  be  considered. 
-The origin  It  has  been  said  of  Carlyle,  by  one  of  his 
imiched"  latcst  biographcrs,  that  his  taste  in  art  was 
withp.aisc.  Qj^,^^  ,,  ji^^j  ^c  ,j,^^,  Annandale  peasant."     Then 

the  Annandale  peasant  must  have  a  great  fac- 
ult}-,  as  indeed  the  natural  man  often  does  have, 
for  going  to  the  root  of  the  matter.  "  In  all 
true  Works  of  Art,"  says  Carlyle  in  "Sartor," 
"  if  thou  know  a  Work  of  Art  from  a  Daub  of 
Artifice,  wilt  thou  discern  Eternit)'  looking 
through  Time  ;  the  Godlike  rendered  visible." 
"Art  in  all  times,"  he  says,  in  "Shooting 
Niagara,"  "  is  a  higher  synonym  for  God  Al- 
mighty's Facts, — which  come  to  us  direct 
from   Heaven,  hut  in  so  abstruse  a  condition, 


PRINCIPLES    OF    ART.  5 

and  cannot  be  read  at  all  till  the  better  intellect 
interpret  them.  All  real  Art  is  definable  as 
Fact,  or  say  as  the  disimprisoned  Soul  of 
Fact."  In  these  two  passages  (the  latter  of 
which,  however,  was  of  course  long  subsequent 
to  "Modern  Painters")  is  contained  the  germ 
of  all  Mr.  Ruskin's  Gospel  of  Art.  What  is 
Art  ?  From  what  instinct  in  man  does  it  spring  ? 
To  what  faculties  does  it  appeal  ?  By  what 
rules  is  it  to  be  judged  ?  What  purpose  does 
it  serve  ?  The  Ruskinian  Gospel  answers 
these  fundamental  questions  with  no  uncertain 
sound.  "  The  art  of  man,"  such  is  the  first 
article  of  faith  as  defined  in  "  The  Laws  of 
Fesole,"  "  is  the  expression  of  his  rational  and 
disciplined  delight  in  the  forms  and  laws  of 
the  creation  of  which  he  forms  a  part."  Mr. 
Ruskin's  theory  of  the  origin  of  Art  is  thus  the 
old  theory  of  imitation,  with  a  "  rider  : "  Art 
arises  out  of  imitation,  but  of  imitation  touched 
with  delight.  Both  are  necessary.  Thus  "  a 
lamb  at  play,  rejoicing  in  its  own  life  only, 
is  not  an  artist."  But  the  child  who,  looking 
at  the  lamb  and  liking  it,  tries  to  imitate  it  on 
his  slate,  is  an  artist.  This  is  the  theory 
which   all    Mr.    Ruskin's   historical   studies  in 


O  THE    GOSPEL    ACCORDING    TO    RL'SKIX. 

Art    serve    to    illustrate.      "  All    great    Art    is 

Praise."    The  perfection  of  the  Art  of  the  Greeks 

was  the  expression  of  their  delight  in  God's 

noblest  work — the    disciplined    beauty   of  the 

human   body.     The  perfection  of  early  Italian 

Art  was  its  delight  in  "saints  a-praising  God." 

It  is  with  architecture  as  with  painting  :  those 

fair  fronts  of  mouldering  wall  were  filled  with 

sculpture   of   the    saints   whom    the    cathedral 

builders  worshipped    and  of  the  flowers   they 

loved. 

The  facui-         Such   being,    on    the   Ruskinian    theory,  the 
ties  to  °'  -' ' 

a '"eaif"^'  o'"'?^"  of  Art,  it  is  casy  to  see  to  what  faculties 
inlua^fon'^  i"  man  it  appeals.  "  Like  is  known  of  like  :  " 
power."  from  delight  in  the  forms  and  laws  of  God's 
creation  Art  comes  ;  to  that  delight  it  appeals. 
This  is  the  central  idea  of  the  chief  book  of 
Ruskin's  Gospel.  "  In  the  main  aim  and  prin- 
ciple of  '  Modern  Painters,'  "  he  says,  "  there 
is  no  variation  from  its  first  syllabic  to  its  last. 
It  declares  the  pcrfectness  and  eternal  beauty 
of  the  work  of  God,  and  tests  all  work  of 
man  by  concurrence  with  or  subjection  to  that." 
Thus,  the  greatest  picture,  he  says,  is  that  which 
conveys  the  greatest  number  of  the  greatest 
ideas.    The  ideas  that  can  be  received  iVoni  Art 


PRINCIPLES    OF    ART.  7 

are  fivefold  :  ideas  of  power,  ideas  of  imitation, 
ideas  of  truth,  ideas  of  beauty,  and  ideas  of 
relation  (that  is,  everything  productive  of  ex- 
pression, sentiment,  and  character).  Of  these 
five  sets  of  ideas,  the  first  two  may  be  classed 
as  one,  and  soon  dismissed — not  because  they 
are  unimportant,  but  because  the  recognition 
of  their  importance  is  included  in  every  Gospel 
of  Art  that  was  ever  sanely  preached,  and 
besides  is  felt  by  every  one  who  ever  looked 
at  a  picture.  "  How  like  it  is  !  "  is  always 
the  first  remark  of  the  unsophisticated  critic 
when  he  is  confronted  by  a  competent  picture, . 
and  feels  a  perception  of  gentle  surprise  at 
seeing  a  piece  of  canvas  covered  with  pigments 
looking  like  a  field  or  a  face.  The  idea  of 
imitation  is  the  first  received  from  a  picture  ; 
the  idea  of  power — the  recognition,  that  is,  of 
the  painter's  skill — is  perhaps  the  last. 

In  this  aspect  of  pictures  what  artists  are  so  t*"^  duty  of 

*  ^  choosing 

fond  of  saying — namely,  that  only  artists  have  ""bjects. 
the  right  to  criticize  them — is  true.  In  one 
sense  it  is  only  the  chef  of  the  Cafe  Anglais 
who  can  "  do  justice  "  to  a  dinner  at  the  Cafe 
Riche  ;  for  it  is  only  he  who  knows  how  much 
skill  in  composition  and  delicacy  in  handling 


8  "  THE    GOSPEL    ACCORDING    TO    RUSKIN." 

are  involved  in  producing  the  dinner.  But  no 
one  has  yet  pretended  that  you  have  no  right 
to  discuss  a  good  dinner  unless  you  could 
yourself  cook  it — and  why  not  ?  Because  the 
dinner  itself  is  to  be  enjoyed,  as  well  as  the 
skill  which  produced  it  to  be  admired.  And 
so  it  is  with  pictures  :  they  must  be  like  what 
they  represent ;  of  course  they  must ;  and  a 
spectator  may  or  may  not  know  how  dii'licult 
it  is  to  attain  even  that,  but  the  more  he  knows 
how  difficult  is  the  mastery,  the  more  he  will 
insist,  if  he  be  logical,  upon  the  aim  being 
worthy.  According  to  Mr.  Frith,  Turner  once 
said  to  Mr.  Ruskin,  "  My  dear  sir,  if  you  only 
knew  how  difficult  it  is  to  paint  even  a  decent 
picture,  you  would  not  say  the  severe  things 
3'ou  do  of  those  who  fail."  As  applied  to  Mr. 
Ruskin's  criticism  of  kcliiiiqiic,  the  remark  may 
have  been  trenchant ;  as  applied  to  his  criticism 
of  subjects,  it  cuts  precisely  the  other  way. 
"  The  life  so  short,"  says  Chaucer,  "  the  craft 
so  long  to  learne  ; "  then,  for  God's  sake,  do  not 
waste  your  hard-won  skill  and  scanty  time  in 
painting  a  boor  instead  of  a  gentleman,  or  an 
"  impression  "  of  a  ballet-girl  instead  oi'  a  vision 
of  angel  choirs. 


PRINCIPLES    OF    ART.  9 

And  thus  we  come  to  the  other  ideas  which  j-.'^th''." °' 
pictures  may  convey — ideas  of  truth,  of  beauty, 
of  relation.  Ideas  of  truth  need  not  detain  us. 
It  is  a  chapter  of  the  Gospel  which  is  indeed 
supremely  important,  but  also  extremely  obvi- 
ous. It  was  not  so  when  Mr.  Ruskin  first 
taught  it.  The  man  who  in  the  pre-Ruskinian 
era  was  the  High  Priest  among  connoisseurs 
was  Sir  George  Beaumont ;  and  Sir  George, 
admirable  man  as  he  was  in  other  respects, 
when  he  looked  at  a  landscape,  asked,  not 
whether  it  was  true  to  the  facts  of  nature,  but 
whether  it  accorded  with  the  fictions  of  con- 
vention. "  But  where  is  your  brown  tree  ?  " 
he  asked  of  Constable  when  that  painter  gave 
in  his  adherence  to  the  then  revolutionary 
course  of  proclaiming  that  trees  were  green. 
No  part  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  Gospel  has  won  wider 
acceptance,  and  in  so  doing  effected  a  greater 
revolution  in  Art,  than  his  vindication  of  truth 
in  landscape.  And  one  sees  whence  his  success 
came.  "  Out  of  the  fulness  of  the  heart  the 
mouth  speaketh."  To  the  man  who  has  walked 
with  nature,  and  seen  in  it  "  God  Almighty's 
facts,"  the  conventions  of  the  ideal  school  are 
flat  blasphemy.      "  No  other  man  in  England," 


lO  THE    GOSPEL   ACCORDING    TO    RUSKl.N. 

said  Carlyle  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  political  economy, 
"  has  in  him  the  same  divine  rage  against 
falsity."  But  false  wares  may  be  passed  in 
pictures  as  well  as  in  trade,  and  Mr.  Ras- 
kin's "divine  rage"  was  spent  against  both 
alike. 
"Ideas of         But  it  must  Hot  be  supposed  tiiat  in  prcach- 

Beauty : "  rr  i 

Ruskinat    jne   Truth  in   Art  he   ignores  tiie  function  of 

once  a  ^  ° 

a  Painter"^  Bcauty.  On  the  contrar}',  it  is  as  an  inter- 
preter of  Beauty  that  Mr.  Ruskin  has  probably 
attracted  most  readers.  The  peculiarities  of 
his  education  have  in  this  respect  given  him  a 
unique  position  and  insight.  He  is  at  once  a 
Puritan  and  a  painter,  an  Evangelical  by  train- 
ing, a  Catholic  by  taste.  Hence  he  has  resisted 
both  the  Philistinism  of  Evangelical  religion 
and  the  frivolity  or  false  sentiment  of  popular 
art.  To  the  "aesthetes"  in  particular  he  has 
ever  been  a  deadly  enemy,  and  there  is  not  a 
line  in  his  books  which  does  not  give  the  lie 
to  the  principle,  or  a  rebuke  to  the  practice, 
of  that  school.  According  to  it,  the  essence 
of  Art  is  beauty,  and  the  essence  of  beauty 
consists  in  its  appeal  to  tiic  senses.  This  is 
the  theory  of  the  matter  which  is  responsible 
for  all  the  sensuality  and  all  the  frivolity  in  An 


PRINCIPLES    OF    ART.  I  I 

which    made    the    Puritans    banish    it    as    the 
accursed  thing. 

Mr.  Ruskin's  theory  of  the  function  of  Art  JJ^^^°^- 
is  diametrically  opposite.  According  to  him,  85^11"/. 
"  there  is  no  other  definition  of  the  Beautiful, 
nor  of  any  subject  of  delight  to  the  aesthetic 
faculty,  than  that  it  is  what  one  noble  spirit 
has  created,  seen  and  felt  by  another  of  similar 
or  equal  nobility.  So  much  as  there  is  in  you 
of  ox,  or  of  swine,  perceives  no  beauty  and 
creates  none  :  what  is  human  in  you,  in  exact 
proportion  to  the  perfectness  of  its  humanity, 
can  create  it  and  receive."  Art,  he  says,  is 
no  recreation — it  is  "not  a  mere  amusement,  a 
minister  to  morbid  sensibilities,  a  tickler  and 
fanner  of  the  soul's  sleep."  And  this,  not  be- 
cause Art  is  not  to  give  pleasure  :  on  the  con- 
trary, it  is  not  Art  unless  it  does  ;  but  because 
the  pleasures  to  which  Art  should  appeal  are 
the  pleasures  of  the  mind,  and  not  of  the  senses. 
That  such  pleasures  of  the  mind  are  the  highest 
prerogative  of  man  is  no  new  Gospel.  It  is  as 
old  as  Aristotle,  who  defined  happiness  as  "  a 
sort  of  energy  of  contemplation."  Thus,  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Ruskin,  beauty  is  "  the  expres- 
sion  of  the   creating   Spirit   of  the  universe." 


12        "THE    GOSPEL    ACCORDING    TO    RUSKIN. 

Neither  is  this  statement  a  new  one.  It  was 
partly  taught  by  Plato,  and  more  clearly  by 
Spenser,  when  he  said — 

"That  Beauty  is  not,  as  fond  men  misdeem. 
An  outward  show  of  things,  that  only  seem  ; " 

and  when  he  bade  the  hearts  of  men 

"  Lift  themselves  up  higher, 
And  learnc  to  love  with  zealous  humble  dewt^- 
Th'  eternal  fountaine  of  lliat  hiavenlj'  beauty." 

It  is  the  detailed  proof  of  this  conclusion — oc- 
cupying three  volumes  and  a  half  of  "  Modern 
Painters" — that  is  the  pith  of  Ruskin's  Gospel. 
There  is,  he  begins  by  arguing,  an  objective 
standard  of  beauty.  It  is  not,  as  Keats  so 
prettily  but  so  absurdly  said,  the  true ;  for  the 
"  mirage  of  the  desert  is  fairer  than  its  samis." 
Nor  is  it  the  useful  ;  unless  the  most  beautiful 
products  of  art  are  spades  and  millstones.  Nor 
does  it  depend  on  custom  :  Gower  Street  ma)' 
become  less  ugly  to  you  if  you  are  used  to  it, 
but  it  is  not  custom  that  is  the  cause  of  the 
beauty  of  Giotto's  Tower.  Nor  does  it  depend 
on  association  of  ideas.  Associations  are  a 
source  of  pleasure  ;  so  is  beauty  ;  but  beauty  is 


PRINCIPLES    OF    ART.  1 3 

not  therefore  association.  No  ;  beauty  consists, 
says  Ruskin,  (i)  in  certain  external  qualities  of 
bodies  which  are  typical  of  Divine  attributes  ; 
(2)  in  the  appearance  of  felicitous  fulfilment  of 
function  in  vital  things. 

Any   reader  who  wants   to  get  at  the  evi-  "Typical" 

and 

dences  of  Ruskin's  Gospel  must  study  closely  g^''^'." 
the  chapters  in  which  the  above  propositions  ^''p'^'"'^''- 
are  worked  out.  All  that  can  be  done  here  is 
to  take  an  illustration  or  two  to  show  the  line 
of  argument  adopted.  Every  one  has  heard  of 
the  repose  of  true  beauty ;  why  is  repose 
beautiful  ?  Because  it  is  "  a  type  of  Divine 
permanence,"  and  satisfies 

"  The  universal  instinct  of  repose, 
The  longing  for  confirmed  tranquillity, 
Inward  and  outward,  humble  and  sublime — 
The  life  where  hope  and  memory  are  one." 

That  is  what  is  meant  by  typical  beauty.  Again, 
every  one  recognizes  the  beauty  of  "  the  ideal ;  " 
but  wherein  does  this  beauty  consist  ?  Why 
is  the  skylark  beautiful  ?  Because  it  so  per- 
fectly fulfils  the  bird-ideal,  so  happily  performs, 
that  is,  the  highest  functions  of  the  songsters 
of  the  sky.     Why  is  the  face  of  an  ideal  man 


14  THE    GOSPEL   ACCORDING    TO    RUSKIN. 

more  beautiful  than  that  of  the  man  in  tlie 
street  ?  Because  Art  is  "  the  pure  mirror  that 
can  show  the  seraph  standing  by  each  human 
bodv,  as  signal  to  the  heavenl}'  land."  That  is 
what  is  meant  by  vital  beauty.  There  is  no 
beauty  that  cannot  ultimateh'  be  traced  back 
to  one  or  other  of  these  causes,  and  no  work 
of  art  which  should  not  be  judged  by  its 
compliance  with  them.  Turner's  work  is  more 
beautiful  than  that  of  other  men,  only  in  the 
degree  in  which  it  shows  more  clearly  than 
they  "  the  disimprisoned  soul  of  fact,"  and  sets 
forth  more  surely  "the  glorj'  of  God."  And 
so  with  architecture.  "The  law  which  it  has 
been  my  effort  chiefl\^  to  illustrate,"  says  Mr. 
Ruskin,  "  is  the  dependence  of  all  noble  design 
on  the  sculpture  of  organic  form."  One  school 
of  architecture  sets  itself  to  lines  and  jiropor- 
tions  and  conventional  ornaments  ;  the  other 
chooses  the  suggestion  of  natural  laws,  the 
imitation  of  natural  forms.  Let  the  architects 
pause,  saj's  Mr.  Ruskin,  with  all  the  seriousness 
of  a  moral  teacher,  at  the  parting  of  "  the  Two 
Paths,"  before  they  "  wilfully  bind  uji  their  eyes 
from  the  splendour,  wilfully  turn  their  backs 
upon  all  the  majesties,  of  OuHiipolence." 


PRINCIPLES    OF    ART.  IS 

One  sees  from  this  passage  how  serious  and  Ai;j.^!'^d^ 
sacred  is  the  mission  to  which  Ruskin's  Gospel 
summons  Art  as  the  interpreter  of  Beauty.     No 
question    has    been  more   often    debated   than 
the  relation  of  Art  to  Religion.     According  to 
Mr.  Ruskin,   Art  is  Religion.     By  Religion  is 
meant  "  the  feelings  of  love,  reverence,  or  dread 
with  which  the  human  mind  is  affected  by  its 
conceptions  of  spiritual  being."     Recognise  this 
spiritual  bting,  and  "  name  it  as  you  will  :  "   if 
you  recognise  it,  and  recognising   revere,  you 
are  religious  ;    and  Art,  as  the   interpreter  of 
Beauty,    is    the   prime  agent  in    showing  you 
noble  grounds  for  such  noble  emotion.     Hence 
also  the  true  artist  is  necessarily  a  man  of  true 
religion.    The  world  of  Beauty  is  like  the  Beryl 
in  Rossetti's  ballad — 

"  None  sees  here  but  the  pure  alone." 

That  such  has  in  fact  been  the  case  is  the 
burden  of  all  Mr.  Ruskin's  books  on  the  history 
of  artists  and  art  schools.  It  is  the  decadence 
of  the  art  of  architecture,  corresponding  with  a 
decay  of  vital  religion,  that  he  finds  written  on 
the  "  Stones  of  Venice  ; "  the  clearness  of  early 
faith  that  he  finds  reflected  in  the  brightness  of 


1 6      "the  gospel  accordixg  to  ruskix." 

the  pictures  of  Florence  ;  the  gladness  of  Greek 
religion  that  gives  for  him  its  sharpness  to  the 
"  Ploughshare  of  Pentelicus." 
"Ideas of         Biit  i,^  the  Gospel  according  to  Ruskin  Art 

Relation :  ^  ° 

Mo'rality  '^  ""'•  °"'y  Religion  ;  it  is  Morality  also.  To 
understand  how  this  conclusion  is  reached  we 
must  go  back  to  "  ideas  of  relation,"  which,  it 
will  be  remembered,  were  the  last  (and  highest) 
source  of  pleasures  in  Art.  The  meaning  and 
sphere  of  these  ideas  can  be  seen  in  a  moment 
by  any  one  who  will  go  into  the  National 
Gallery  and  look  at  Turner's  "  Building  of 
Carthage,"  which  he  bequeathed  to  the  country 
to  hang  side  by  side  with  Claude's  "  Queen  of 
Sheba."  In  the  foreground  Turner  puts  a  group 
of  children  sailing  toy  boats.  "The  choice  of 
tliis  incident,  as  expressive  of  the  ruling  pas- 
sion which  was  to  be  the  source  of  future  great- 
ness, in  preference  to  the  tumult  of  busy  masons 
or  arming  soldiers,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
technicalities  of  painting;  a  scratch  of  the  pen 
would  have  conveyed  the  same  intellectual  idea 
as  an  elaborate  realization  by  colour."  Yet  this 
"  idea  of  relation  "  gives  at  once  an  interest  to 
the  picture  which  no  beauty  of  forms  or  colours, 
no  skill  of  workmanship,  could  give.     And  not 


PRINCIPLES    OF   ART.  1/ 

onl}'  that,  but  it  actually  enhances  the  beauty. 
Take  another  illustration,  and  this  fact  will  be 
seen  more  clearly.  In  Turner's  "  Pass  of  Faido  " 
the  painter  introduces  a  post-chaise  in  the  fore- 
ground. He  was  criticized  for  so  doing,  on  the 
ground  that  he  thereby  destroyed  the  majesty 
of  desolation  in  his  picture.  Not  so ;  he  enhanced 
it.  "  The  full  essence  and  soul  of  the  scene, 
and  consummation  of  all  the  wonderfulness  of 
the  torrents  and  Alps,  lay  in  that  post-chaise." 
And  why  ?  Because,  without  the  suggestion 
of  the  human  element,  nature  loses  in  the  in- 
stant its  power  over  the  human  heart.  Mr. 
Ruskin  has  illustrated  this  point  in  a  famous 
passage  in  the  "  Seven  Lamps,"  descriptive  of 
a  scene  in  the  Jura  : — 

"  It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  one  less  dependent 
upon  any  otlier  interest  than  that  of  its  own  secluded 
and  serious  beauty ;  but  the  writer  well  remembers 
the  sudden  blankness  and  chill  whicli  were  cast  upon 
it  when  he  endeavoured,  in  order  more  strictly  to  arrive 
at  the  sources  of  its  impressiveness,  to  imagine  it,  for 
a  moment,  a  scene  in  some  aboriginal  forest  of  the  New 
Continent.  The  flowers  in  an  instant  lost  their  light, 
the  river  its  music  ;  the  hills  became  oppressively  deso- 
late ;  a  heaviness  in  the  boughs  of  the  darkened  forest 
showed  how  much  of  their  former  power  had  been 
dependent  upon  a  life  which  was  not  theirs,  how  much 

2 


i8      "the  gospel  according  to  ruskin." 

of  the  glor}'  of  the  imperishable,  or  contimiall}-  renewed, 
creation  is  reflected  from  things  more  precious  in  their 
memories  than  it,  in  its  renewing.  Those  ever-spring- 
ing flowers  and  ever-flowing  streams  had  been  dyed 
by  the  deep  colours  of  human  endurance,  valour,  and 
virtue,  and  tlie  crests  of  the  sable  hills  that  rose  against 
the  evening  sky  received  a  deeper  worsliip,  because 
their  far  sliadows  fell  eastward  over  the  iron  wall  of 
Joux  and  the  four-square  keep  of  Gransou." 

Great  Art         Herein  is  another  fundamental  aitick-  in  the 

'*  the  t^'pc 

and'nobfe  Gospel  accordlng  to  Ruskin.  It  is  the  function 
of  Art,  as  we  have  seen,  to  declare  the  beauty 
of  God  ;  but  man's  soul  is  the  mirror  of  God's, 
and  hence  all  the  power  of  nature  depends  on 
its  subjection  to  the  human  soul.  "  In  these 
books  of  mine,"  says  Ruskin,  in  a  central  pas- 
sage of  "  Modern  Painters,"  "  their  distinctive 
character  as  essays  on  Art  is  their  bringing 
everything  to  a  root  in  hiuiian  passion  or  hu- 
man hope.  Every  principle  of  painting  which 
I  have  stated  is  traced  to  some  vital  or  spi- 
ritual fact ;  and  in  my  works  on  Architecture 
the  preference  accorded  finally  to  one  scliool 
over  another  is  founded  on  a  comparison  of 
their  influences  on  the  life  of  the  workman 
— a  question  by  all  other  writers  on  the  subject 
of  Architecture  wholly  forgotten  or  ilcspised." 


PRINCIPLES    OF   ART.  ig 

The  artist,  then,  and  the  amateur  are  not  to 
Hve  in  rapt  contemplation  of  a  beauty  apart 
from  the  world  of  man  and  the  interests  of 
every-day  life,  but  mixing  freely  in  that  world 
and  sharing  in  those  interests,  are  to  show 
the  things  that  sustain  man's  spiritual  life,  and 
the  conditions  that  minister  to  his  peace.  "  We 
live  by  the  sweat  of  our  brow  or  by  the  clink 
of  our  machinery,"  says  the  man  of  business. 
"  We  live  not  by  bread  alone,  but  by  '  admira- 
tion, hope,  and  love,'  "  says  the  artist.  Thus 
it  is  that  "  great  Art  is  nothing  else  than  the 
type  of  strong  and  noble  life ; "  for  it  first 
"  seizes  natural  facts,  and  then  orders  those  facts 
by  strength  of  human  intellect,  so  as  to  make 
them,  for  all  who  look  upon  them,  to  the  utmost 
serviceable,  memorable,  and  beautiful;"  and 
hence,  too,  it  is  that  so  far  from  Art  being 
immoral,  "  little  else  than  Art  is  moral  ;  for  if 
life  without  industry  is  guilt,  industry  without 
art  is  brutality." 

Such  is  the  Ruskinian  Gospel  of  Art.     What  significance 

^  oi  the  fore- 

is  the  value   of   the    message    to    the   present  o°',"^^  p""^-^ 

generation  ?     To  answer  that  question  one  has  p'''=^'="'^s^ 

to  remember  the  materialism  which,  owing  to 

modern   science   and  modern   industry,   is    the 


20         "THE    GOSPEL    ACCORDING    TO    RUSKIN. 

besetting  danger  of  the  age.  The  Ruskinian 
Gospel  has  sometimes  been  spoken  of  as 
wliolly  contradictory  of  both  these  factors  in 
modern  Hfe.  If  so,  it  is  so  much  the  worse 
for  the  Gospel.  But  in  fact,  it  is  not  con- 
tradictory, but  corrective  of  them.  Mr.  Ruskin 
came  at  the  "  psychological  moment,"  when 
science  had  reduced  all  life  to  physical  elements, 
and  industry  all  men  to  machines,  to  correct 
this  tendency  by  showing  the  other  side  of 
truth.  Science  teaches  us  that  the  stars  stink, 
Art  that  they  twinkle ;  Science  that  the  clouds 
are  "  a  sleet}'  mist,"  Art  that  they  are  "  a  golden 
throne.''  For  Science  is  of  essences,  Art  of 
aspects.  The  one,  be  it  observed,  is  as  much 
a  study  of  facts  as  the  other.  It  is  as  much 
a  fact  to  be  noted  in  the  constitution  of  things 
tlial  they  produce  such  and  sucii  an  effect 
upon  tlie  eye  or  heart,  as  that  thcj'  are  made 
up  of  certain  atoms  of  matter.  And  similarly 
with  the  conditions  of  modern  industry  as  with 
the  conclusions  of  modern  science.  The  drift  of 
modern  society  under  the  pressure  of  economic 
forces  is  all  towards  materialism  also — towards 
the  material  prosperity  of  money-getting  and 
the  ninterial  misery  of  poverty.     The   drifl  of 


PRINCIPLES    OF    ART.  21 

Mr.  Ruskin's  teaching  is  to  relieve  the  pres- 
sure of  poverty  by  diverting  the  race  after 
wealth.  The  world  of  industry,  with  science 
to  do  its  bidding,  placed  happiness  in  wealth. 
"  It  got  the  clouds  packed  into  iron  cylinders, 
and  made  them  carry  its  wise  self  at  their  own 
cloud  pace.  It  got  weavable  fibres  out  of  the 
mosses,  and  made  clothes  for  itself  cheap  and 
fine,  and  thought  that  here  was  happiness."  And 
all  the  while,  as  Mr.  Ruskin  came  to  preach, 
"the  real  happiness  of  man  was  placed  in  the 
keeping  of  the  little  mosses  of  the  wayside 
and  of  the  clouds  of  the  firmament " — in  the 
keeping  of  these  and  in  the  doing  of  justice 
and  ministering  of  mercy.  Amid  the  turmoil 
of  trade  and  anarchy  of  competition,  Mr.  Ruskin 
proclaimed  that  "  Art  still  has  truth,"  and  bade 
men  "  take  refuge  there."  What  kind  of  truth 
his  Gospel  teaches  in  trade  and  politics,  and 
what  kind  of  refuge  it  provides,  will  be  shown 
in  the  ne.xt  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II. 


APPLICATIONS    TO    LIFE. 


Ruskin's      No  gosDcI  is  eood  for  anvthinir  which    is  not 

"inc^uire  ^      i  ^  ^  <j 

within        good  for  everythintr.     Confront  tlie  novice  with 

upon  every-  °  j  a 

thing.  some  experimental  problem  upon  which  vour 
gospel  is  silent,  or  with  some  logical  conclusion 
for  which  it  is  not  prepared,  and  what  authority 
is  left  to  you  ?  For  you  cannot  label  a  gospel 
like  a  bale  of  glass,  "This  side  up  only."  It 
must  stand  four-square  to  every  wind  that 
blows,  or  it  cannot  stand  at  all.  It  is  one  of 
the  characteristics  of  Mr.  Ruskin  as  a  writer 
that  he  is  permeated  with  a  sense  of  this  neces- 
sity. "Throughout  Ruskin's  whole  work,"  says 
a  French  critic  of  to-day,  "  we  find  the  applica- 
tion of  developed  theories,"  and  his  writings  arc 
thus  "  one  of  the  greatest  works  achieved  by 
the  mind  of  man."  "  The  teaching  of  Art,"  says 
Mr.  Ruskin  iiiiiisilf,  "is  the  teaching  of  all 
things."    Aiul  in  ihf  fuhihiunttif  this  conception 


APPLICATIONS    TO    LIFE.  23 

of  his  calling  there  is  no  word  in  his  Gospel 
of  Art  which  he  has  not  driven  home  to  its 
utmost  application  to  life,  no  interest  or  sphere 
of  life  which  he  has  not  related  to  some  prin- 
ciple of  art.  He  has  laid  down  the  law  with 
equal  decision  upon  Giotto's  painting  and  goose 
pies  ;  upon  Bible  and  bicycles ;  upon  railways 
and  Reynolds  ;  upon  the  clouds  of  heaven  and 
the  circles  of  hell.  A  complete  index  to  Mr. 
Ruskin's  works  would  be  a  formidable  rival  to 
Mrs.  Beeton :  you  could  "  inquire  within  upon 
everything." 

This  enormous  multiplicity  of  topics  touched  oisUnction^ 
upon   by  the   preacher  makes   two  general  re-  «=/°^jfi 
marks  necessary.     In  the  first  place,  no  disci-  [iari^ws"' 
pie— even   of  the   straitest   sect — is   bound   to 
accept  as  gospel  every  word   that   falls  from 
the  "  Master's  "  lips.     A  man  may  be  a  sincere 
and  consistent  Ruskinian  without  abjuring  to- 
bacco or  waiting  seven  years  before  he  marries 
his  betrothed.      For,  be  it  observed,  there  are 
things    which    appertain    to    the    Gospel,    and 
things  which  do  not.     The  Pope  is  infallible, 
but  only  when  he  speaks  from  the  chair  and 
utters  the  voice  of  the  Church.     The  judge's 
word   is  law,   but  only  when  he   delivers  the 


24  THE    GOSPKL    ACCORDING    TO    RUSKIN. 

judgment  of  the  court,  and  not  when  he  amuses 
himself  with  ohiicr  dicta.  But  on  the  other 
hand,  this  liberty  of  rejection  is  strictly  limited 
to  such  things  as  are  not  of  the  faith.  A 
disciple  may  not  chop  a  gospel  up  into  mor- 
sels, to  eat  or  refuse  at  his  pleasure.  This  is 
precisely,  however,  what  most  people  do  with 
the  Gospel  according  to  Ruskin.  There  has 
been  a  curious  instance  of  it  in  some  recent 
criticisms.  In  art,  says  the  Edinburgh,  Mr. 
Ruskin  is  often  right ;  in  political  economy  he 
is  alwaj's  wrong.  As  a  social  jihilosopher, 
says  the  Century,  Mr.  Ruskin  is  above  praise  ; 
as  an  art  critic,  he  is  beneath  contempt.  From 
the  point  of  view  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  Gospel  both 
criticisms  must  necessaril}'  be  wrong.  For 
if  the  teaching  of  Art  be  the  teaching  of 
everything,  "  unfaith  in  aught  is  want  of  faith 
in  all." 
Miftics'  ^"  order  to  appreciate  the  point  of  contact 

to  work  out  between  Art  and  life,  consider  for  a  moment 
saiv.it'ioii.  the  only  true  and  vital  kind  of  "  historical " 
art — the  art,  that  is,  which  represents  the 
living  forms  and  daily  deeds  of  its  own  time. 
Teach  noble  art  in  this  sense,  and  you  be- 
come at   once   a  teacher  of  morality  as  well. 


APPLICATIONS    TO    LIFE.  25 

"  Remember,"  said  Mr.  Riiskin,  in  one  of  the 
earliest  of  his  public  lectures,  "  that  it  is  not 
so  much  in  buying  pictures  as  in  being  pictures 
that  you  can  encourage  a  noble  school."  In 
seeking  for  beauty  of  form  in  a  marble  image, 
you  necessarily  seek  also  for  beauty  of  character 
in  a  living  person.  "  On  all  the  beautiful 
features  of  men  and  women,  throughout  the 
ages,  are  written  the  solemnities  and  majesty 
of  the  law  they  knew,  with  the  charity  and 
meekness  of  their  obedience."  The  importance 
of  individual  character,  the  value  of  work  in 
forming  it,  the  supremacy  of  duty  in  directing 
it :  these  are  some  of  the  leading  moral  lessons 
which  Ml'.  Ruskin,  like  Carlyle,  has  had  to 
teach,  but  to  which  he  has  given  a  new  turn 
by  adding  the  sanction  of  Art.  It  used  to  be 
thought  that  the  "  condition  of  England  ques- 
tion "  would  be  solved  by  the  ballot-box,  by 
fresh  liberties,  by  new  laws.  Not  so,  said 
Carlyle.  Not  so,  says  Mr.  Ruskin.  In  life,  as 
in  Art,  the  only  liberty  worth  having  is  founded 
on  personal  discipline.  This  is  why  Mr. 
Ruskin  lays  so  much  stress  on  the  dignity  and 
usefulness  of  manual  labour.  "  To  succeed  to 
my  own  satisfaction,"  he  says,  "  in   a  manual 


26 


'THE    GOSPEL    ACCORDING    TO    RUSKIN. 


Each  man 
to  be  his 
brother's 
keeper. 


piece  of  work  is  life — to  me,  as  to  all  men." 
"  Little  else  except  Art,"  he  elsewhere  says, 
"is  wise;  all  knowledge  unaccompanied  by  a 
habit  of  useful  action  is  too  likely  to  become 
deceitful,  and  every  habit  of  useful  action  must 
resolve  itself  into  some  elementary'  practice  of 
manual  labour."  The  free  hand  of  the  artist 
is  one  (he  says)  that  moves  in  absolute  obe- 
dience to  felt  laws;  and  the  free  man  is  he 
who  has  his  passions  most  perfectly  in  sub- 
jection. And  the  only  way  of  arriving  at  this 
freedom,  in  life  as  in  art,  is  by  apprenticeship 
to  toil.  "  To  do  good  work  whether  we  live 
or  die  "  is  the  first  article  of  faith  which  Mr. 
Ruskin  demands  of  his  disciples.  "  Be  sure 
that  3'ou  can  obey  a  good  law  before  you  seek  to 
unmake  a  bad  one,"  was  his  first  injunction  to  the 
"  workmen  and  labourers  of  Great  Britain." 

That  every  man  must  work  out  his  own  sal- 
vation is  the  first  article  of  all  moral  gospels  ; 
but  it  requires  to  be  immediately  corrected  by  a 
second  one,  that  each  man  is  his  brother's  keeper. 
The  growing  recognition  of  this  truth  is  the 
leading  feature  in  the  social  movements  of  our 
generation.  By  few  men  has  it  been  enforced 
so  earnestly  as  by  Mr.  Ruskin  ;  by  no  one,  so 


APPLICATIONS    TO    LIFE.  2/ 

eloquently.  No  one  has  shown  such  powerful 
imagination  as  he  in  lifting  the  veil  which  hides 
the  grim  realities  of  poverty  from  the  gay  dreams 
of  wealth,  or  such  fearless  satire  in  mocking 
the  Churches  for  "  dining  with  the  rich  and 
preaching  to  the  poor."  It  is  only  the  lack  of 
imagination,  Mr.  Ruskin  argues,  that  has  ever 
caused  the  question  of  Cain  to  be  seriously 
asked.     But  if  any  doubt  still  lingered,  if  any  How  these 

■^  o  '  ./    maxims 

sanction  on  the  other  side  were  still  needed,  the  RysiJ^'n^j"'" 
Gospel  of  Art  would  supply  it.  For  Art,  to  be  Sr^rt.^'"' 
really  fine,  must,  as  we  have  seen,  be  the  repre- 
sentation of  beautiful  realities,  and  be  pursued 
in  a  spirit  of  delight.  And  where  such  con- 
ditions are  not  present,  the  teacher  of  Art  is 
necessarily  also  a  social  reformer.  It  is  not 
that  he  wants  to  be ;  he  simply  cannot  help 
it.  There  is  a  passage  in  "  Fors  Clavigera," 
written  from  Venice,  of  much  interest  in  this 
connection  : — 

"  Here  is  a  little  grey  cockle-shell  lying  beside  me, 
which  I  gathered  the  other  evening  out  of  the  dust  of 
the  island  of  St.  Helena,  and  a  brightly  spotted  snail- 
shell,  from  the  thirsty  sands  of  Lido  ;  and  I  want  to 
set  myself  to  draw  these,  and  describe  them  in  peace. 
Yes,  and  all  my  friends  say  that  is  my  business  ;  why 
can't  I  mind  it  and  be  happy  ?  .  .  .  But,  alas  !  my  prudent 


28      "the  gospel  according  to  ruskin." 

friends,  little  enough  of  all  that  1  have  a  mind  to  may 
be  permitted  me.  For  this  green  tide  that  eddies  by 
my  threshold  is  full  of  floating  corpses,  and  I  must 
leave  my  dinner  to  bury  them,  since  I  cannot  save, 
and  put  my  cockle-shell  in  cap  and  take  my  staff  in 
hand  to  seek  an  unencumbered  shore." 


It  would  indeed  be  possible  for  the  artist  to 
build  himself  a  miserj^-proof  studio,  as  Carlyle 
built  himself  a  noise-proof  stud}'.  But  no  great 
work  is  on  such  terms  possible.  For  either 
the  artist  must  bury  himself  in  idle  unrealities 
— but  "it  is  the  vainest  of  aifectations  to  try 
to  put  beauty  into  shadows,  while  all  real 
things  that  cast  them  are  left  in  deformity 
arid  pain," — or  he  must  be  heartless  and  want- 
ing in  sensibility — but  that  is  to  be  wanting 
in  just  those  qualities  which  distinguish  the 
best  art ;  for  fine  art  is  that  "  in  which  tiie 
hand,  the  head,  and  the  heart  go  together." 
And  thus  it  is  that  Compassion  for  the  Poor 
is  the  last  word  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  books  on  Art, 
as  well  as  of  those  on  Morals.  "  I  tell  you,"  he 
said  to  the  O.xford  students,  as  the  conclusion  of 
his  Art  teaching,  "  that  neither  sound  art,  policy, 
n<ir  religion  can  e.xist  in  England  inilil,  neglect- 
ing, if  it  nnist   be,  your  own   pleasure-gardens 


APPLICATIONS    TO    LIFE.  29 

and  pleasure-chambers,  you  resolve  that  the 
streets  which  are  the  habitation  of  the  poor, 
and  the  fields  which  are  the  play-grounds  of 
their  children,  shall  be  again  restored  to  the 
rule  of  the  spirits,  whosoever  they  are,  in  earth 
and  heaven,  that  ordain,  and  reward,  with  con- 
stant and  conscious  felicity,  all  that  is  decent 
and  orderly,  beautiful  and  pure." 

But  the  applications  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  Gospel  Ruskin's 

^^  ^       Political 

of  Art  do  not  stop  with  these  general  counsels  ^^^3°"^ 
of  benevolence.  They  furnish  a  system  of  eco-  weSth?' 
nomics,  as  well  as  a  standard  of  morals  and 
a  code  of  social  duty.  Mr.  Ruskin's  Political 
Economy- — alternately  adopted  and  abused — 
follows  immediately  and  vitally  from  his  Art 
teaching.  The  point  of  connection  will  come  out 
most  clearly  if  we  consider  the  National  Ideal 
which  is  logically  deducible  from  the  orthodox 
Political  Economy  and  the  tendencies  of  modern 
commerce.  This  Political  Economy  taught  (or 
what  is  the  same  thing,  was  believed  to  teach*) 

*  Herein  is  to  be  found,  I  think,  the  true  justification 
of  Mr.  Ruskin's  economic  writings.  His  Political  Economy 
has  been  condemned  and  contemned  as  based  on  a  com- 
plete misunderstanding.  He  has  attacked  the  science, 
it  is  said,  as  if  it  were  not  a  science,  but  an  art.  This 
is  true ;  but  the  misconception  of  the  nature  and  scope  of 


30  THE    GOSPEL   ACCORDING    TO    RUSKIN. 

that  the  road  to  national  prosperity  lies  in  the 
unchecked  and  competitive  pursuit  of  material 
wealth  ;  and  the  commercial  tendencies  of  the 
time  make  England  become  more  and  more 
every  day  the  workshop  of  the  world,  until  (as 
Mr.  Ruskin  puts  it)  we  shall  soon  arrive  at  "  the 
state  of  a  squirrel  in  a  cage  or  a  turnspit  in  a 
wheel,  fed  by  foreign  masters  with  nuts  and 
dog's  meat."  Now,  it  is  obvious  that  a  National 
Ideal  such  as   this   is  absolutely   and  entirely 

Political  Economy  did  not  begin  with  Mr.  Ruskin.  On  the 
contrary,  it  began  with  a  certain  school  of  politicians  who 
were  eager  to  interpret  the  "laws"  of  Political  Economy 
(i.e.,  conclusions  drawn  from  abstract  assumptions),  as  if 
they  were  laws  enforcing  political  action.  As  against  this 
perversion  of  the  science,  Mr.  Ruskin  has  done  great 
service  by  insisting  (l)  "that  Political  Economy  can 
furnish  sound  laws  of  national  life  and  work  only  when 
it  respects  the  dignity  and  moral  destiny  of  man ;  (2)  that 
the  wide  use  of  wealth,  in  developing  a  complete  human 
life,  is  of  incomparablj'  greater  moment,  both  to  men  and 
nations,  than  its  production  or  accumulation,  and  can  alone 
give  these  any  vital  significance;  (3)  that  honourable  per- 
formance of  duty  is  more  truly  just  than  rigid  enforcement 
of  right;  and  that  not  in  competition  but  in  helpfulness, 
not  in  self-assertion  but  in  reverence,  is  to  be  found  the 
power  of  life.'  1  take  this  enumeration  of  Mr.  Ruskin's 
economic  principles  from  the  address  presented  to  him 
at  Christmas,  1S85,  by  a  large  body  of  his  admirers,  in- 
cluding most  of  the  literary  and  artistic  celebrities  of 
the  day. 


APPLICATIONS    TO    LIFE.  3  I 

incompatible  with  any  National  Art  such  as 
Mr.  Ruslvin  understands.  It  is  incompatible  both 
in  temper  and  in  external  conditions.  Hence 
Mr.  Ruskin  was  driven  to  the  statement  both  of 
a  new  basis  for  Political  Economy  and  a  new 
definition  of  ivcaltlt.  And  just  as  his  theory  of 
Art  led  him  up  to  the  problem,  so  also  did  it 
give  him  the  clue  to  its  solution.  The  greatest 
work  in  Art,  he  found,  had  always  been  done, 
not  in  competition,  but  in  co-operation,  not  to 
sell,  but  to  keep.  The  application  of  this  idea 
to  economics  is  the  secret  of  his  system.  The 
well-being  of  individuals  and  nations  alike  con- 
sists, according  to  him,  not  in  the  multitude  of 
things  they  possess,  but  in  their  virtues  and 
joys.  "  The  wealth  of  any  country,"  he  laid 
down,  "  is  the  portion  of  its  possessions  which 
feeds  and  educates  good  men  and  good  women. 
The  strength  and  power  of  a  country  depend 
on  the  quantity  of  good  men  and  women  in  it." 

How  under  existing  conditions  is  the  wealth  Practical 

conse- 

of  England  in  this  sense  to  be  advanced  ?     In  quences 

^  therelrom. 

three  ways  principally.  First,  by  the  adoption 
in  politics  of  the  great  principle  of  "  Property  to 
whom  proper" — of  land  and  tools  to  those  who 
can  use  them.    Secondly,  by  planting  firmly  on 


32        "THE    r.OSriCL    ACCORDING    TO    RUSKIN. 

English  land  (including  the  colonies)  as  manj' 
men  and  women  as  it  will  support  ;  by  the 
recognition  of  "  Soldiers  of  the  Ploughshare  as 
well  as  Soldiers  of  the  Sword  ;  "  and  generally 
by  the  substitution  of  the  rest  of  satisfaction 
for  the  unrest  of  ambition.  "The  most  helpful 
and  sacred  work  which  can  at  present  be  done 
for  humanity,"  says  Mr.  Ruskin,  "  is  to  teach 
people,  not  how  to  better  themselves,  but  how 
to  satisfy  themselves."  Follow  out  these  two 
ideas  of  co-operation  instead  of  competition,  of 
living  instead  of  getting,  and  you  will  see  how 
Mr.  Ruskin's  economics  would  release  the 
pressure  upon  poverty.  So  much  for  the  ac- 
quisition of  wealth.  In  its  distribution  he  is 
no  Socialist,  no  equalizer.  He  teaches  not 
the  wickedness  of  riches,  but  their  use.  Thus, 
thirdly  and  lastly,  the  National  Wealth  is  to 
be  promoted  by  the  wise  direction  of  expendi- 
ture. Happiness  is  only  to  be  got  out  of 
honesty,  food  only  out  of  the  ground.  These 
arc  two  of  his  leading  iirincijilcs  in  economics  ; 
but  the  third  is  that  money  is  essentially  not  a 
medium  of  exchange,  but  a  token  of  right. 
And  it  makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world 
whether  you  use  your  right  to  grow  "  grapes 


APPLICATIONS    TO    LIFE.  33 

or  grapeshot,"  and  whether  when  you  have 
got  them  you  use  them  to  preserve  life  or  to 
destroy.  And  that  being  so,  just  as  "  that 
country  is  the  richest  which  nourishes  the 
greatest  number  of  noble  and  happy  beings," 
so  "  that  man  is  richest  who,  having  perfected 
the  functions  of  his  own  life  to  the  utmost,  has 
also  the  widest  and  most  helpful  influence,  both 
personal  and  by  means  of  his  possessions,  over 
the  lives  of  others."  In  such  a  conception  of 
national  economy  it  is  easy  to  see  the  large 
sphere  that  Art  must  play— Art  that  dignifies 
industry  and  adorns  daily  life.  "  The  treasures 
of  true  kings,"  says  Mr.  Ruskin,  in  "Sesame 
and  Lilies,"  "  are  the  streets  of  their  cities ;  and 
the  gold  they  gather,  which  for  others  is  as  the 
mire  of  the  streets,  changes  itself  for  them  and 
their  people  into  a  crystalline  pavement  for 
evermore." 

And    now    having    completed    the    circle    ofThci-eia- 

°  ^  tion  of  ^ 

Ruskin's  Gospel,  having  set  out  from  Art,  and  ^o'lfkJ'Jo 
having  been  brought  back  to  it,  we  are   in  a  ^^"^^  °^^"' 
position  to  note  in  conclusion   the  relation  of 
the  different  "  sacred  books  "  one  to  the  other. 
"  Modern  Painters  "  taught,  on  the  testimony  of 
the  graphic  arts,  "  the  claim  of  all  lower  nature 

3 


34      "the  gospel  according  to  ruskin. 

on  the  hearts  of  men  ;  of  the  rock,  and  wave, 
and  herb  as  a  part  of  their  necessary  spirit  life." 
The  "Stones  of  Venice"  taught,  on  the  testimony 
of  architecture,  "  the  dependence  of  all  human 
work  or  edifice,  for  its  beauty,  on  the  happy 
life  of  the  workman."     "Unto  this  Last"  and 
"  Munera  Pulveris  "  taught  the  laws  of  that  life, 
and  the  dependence  of  National  Wealth  upon 
the  principles  of  justice,  mercy,  and  admiration. 
"  Sesame  and  Lilies  "  "  showed  that  in  a  state 
of  society  founded  on  these  principles  Women 
will  be  the  guiding  and  purifying  power."     In 
his  "Oxford  Lectures"  Mr.  Ruskin  preached 
the  necessity  that  the  national  life  should  be  led 
by  the  upper  classes,  and  "the  gracious  laws 
of  beauty  and  labour  recognized  by  them  no 
less  than  the  lower  classes  of  England  ;  "  and 
finally  "  Fors  Clavigera"  "showed  the  relation 
of  these  to  each  other,  by  declaring  first  what  is 
visibly  salutary — namely,  that  children  should 
have  enough  to  eat,  and  their  skins  be  washed 
clean  ;  and  secondly,  what  is  invisibly  salutary" 
— namely,  that  "  in  admiration  is  the  chief  joy 
and   power  of  life  ;  admiration    for  all  that  is 
gracious  among   the    living,   great  among   the 
dead,  and  marvellous  in  the  Powers  that  cannot 


APPLICATIONS    TO    LIFE.  35 

die."  And  with  all  this  there  is  scattered  up 
and  down  Mr.  Ruskin's  books,  and  finally  col- 
lected and  concentrated  in  "  Fors  Clavigera," 
an  imperious  call  to  all  men  who  believe  the 
Gospel  to  purge  their  consciences  from  dead 
works  and  join  together  in  helping  their 
fellow-men. 

In  which   connection   it  will  not   be  imper-  Ruskm's 

I  preaching 

tinent  to  turn  for  a  moment  from  Mr.  Ruskin's  ti'ce.''^'"^ 
Gospel  to  Mr.  Ruskin's  life,  or  rather  from  the 
Gospel  in  words  to  the  Gospel  in  works ;   for 
Mr.  Ruskin  is  like  Chaucer's  Parson,  who — 

"  Christes  lore,  and  His  Apostles  twelve, 
He  taughte,  but  first  he  folwede  it  himselve." 

A  detailed  examination  of  some  aspects  of  Mr. 
Ruskin's  works  is  to  be  the  subject  of  the 
following  pages ;  but  here  it  may  be  stated 
generally  that  he  has  spent  not  a  tithe,  nor 
a  half,  but  the  whole  of  a  large  fortune  in 
public  and  private  charities.  He  has  set  Miss 
Octavia  Hill  to  manage  his  London  property 
on  principles  which  have  since  been  adopted 
as  one  of  the  essentials  of  latter-day  philan- 
thropy. He  has  given  his  most  treasured 
drawings  and  minerals  to  public  galleries  and 


jO       "THE   GOSPEL    ACCORDING    TO    RUSKIN. 

museums.  Me  has  revived  village  industries 
and  inspired  co-operative  undertakings,  and 
he  has  established  and  endowed  a  Guild  which 
has  for  its  primary  object  the  redeeming  of 
waste  lands  and  establishment  thereon  of  well- 
ordered  lives.  Some  works  are  great  for  what 
they  accomplish,  others  for  what  they  suggest. 
At  present  Mr.  Ruskin's  lame  stands  on  his 
achievement  as  a  writer.  Twenty  j'ears  hence 
it  is  conceivable  that  he  ma}'  be  best  remem- 
bered for  his  experiments  as  a  social  reformer. 
But  in  Mr.  Ruskin's  life,  as  in  his  Gospel, 
the  artistic  and  the  social  elements  cannot  be 
severed.  He  is  a  social  reformer  because  he 
is  an  Art  teacher  ;  and  whatever  is  essential 
and  characteristic  in  his  Art  teaching  comes 
from  his  social  enthusiasm.  In  Ruskin's  Gos- 
pel there  are  diversities  of  gifts,  but  it  is  the 
same  spirit. 
The  sane-         And  what,  it  may  be  asked,  is  the  sanction, 

lionollhe  i  J  '  » 

Rnskini.in    what  the  reward  of  this  Gospel  ?     The  sanction 

Gospel.  ' 

is  to  be  found  only  in  its  logical  completeness, 
the  only  sure  reward  in  the  experience  of  its 
own  fulfilment ;  for  as  for  rewards  beyond  the 
grave,  the  virtue  which  Mr.  Ruskin  has  prin- 
cipally taught  is  that  of  the  Greeks,    "  whose 


APPLICATIONS    TO    LIFE.  37 

notion  of  heroism  was  giving  one's  lite  for  a 
kiss,  and  not  getting  it."  And  the  "  Crown  "  that 
he  promises  to  his  disciples  is  but  of  "Wild 
Olive : "— 

"  The  tree  that  grows  carelessly,  tufting  the  rocks 
with  no  vivid  bloom,  no  verdure  or  branch ;  only  with 
soft  snow  of  blossom,  and  scarcely  fulfilled  fruit,  mixed 
with  grey  leaf  and  thorn-set  stem ;  no  fastening  of 
diadem  for  you  but  with  such  sharp  embroidery  !  But 
this,  such  as  it  is,  you  may  win,  while  yet  you  live ; 
type  of  grey  honour,  and  sweet  rest.  Free-heartedness, 
and  graciousness,  and  undisturbed  trust,  and  requited 
love,  and  the  sight  of  the  peace  of  others,  and  the 
ministry  to  their  pain ;  these,  and  the  blue  sky  above 
you,  and  the  sweet  waters  and  flowers  of  the  earth  be- 
neath j  and  mysteries  and  presences,  innumerable,  of 
living  things, — may  yet  be  here  your  riches ;  untor- 
menting  and  divine ;  serviceable  for  the  life  that  now 
is ;  nor,  it  may  be,  without  promise  of  that  which  is  to 
come." 


PART   II. 
SOME  ASPECTS  OF  tIK.  RUSKIN'S  WORK. 


CHAPTER    I. 

MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD. 

A  TRENXH-^iNT  Writer  in  the  Ediiibnrgli  Review 
(October,  1889)  has  recently  called  attention  to 
four  different  views  which  may  be,  and  have 
been,  held  of  the  Professorial  Ofllce.  A  Pro- 
fessor at  Oxford  or  Cambridge  may  be  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose  of  Research,  or  by  way 
of  ornament,  or  in  order  to  give  General  In- 
struction, or  lastly  with  a  view  to  Professional 
Teaching.  Mr.  Kuskin's  tenure  of  the  Slade 
Professorship  of  Fine  Art  has  illustrated  each 
and  all  of  these  different,  but  not  necessarily 
conflicting,  functions.  In  the  first  instance  he 
was  no  doubt  elected  as  the  man  best  able  to 
combine  them  all.      When  he  was  reappointed 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD.  39 

after  an  interval  of  some  years,  in  1883,  his  elec- 
tion was  due  in  large  measure  to  the  "  eminent- 
man  theory"  of  the  professorial  office.  The 
inclusion  of  Mr.  Ruslcin  amongst  the  Profes- 
soriate conferred  honour,  it  was  felt,  upon  the 
University.*  The  public,  it  is  curious  to  note, 
seems  to  have  thought  that  such  honour  as  there 
is  in  the  matter  was  conferred  on  Mr.  Ruskin, 
rather  than  on  the  University.  Even  to  this 
day,  when  he  has  no  longer  any  claim  to  the 
title,  he  is  commonly  spoken  of  and  written 
about  as  "  Professor  Ruskin  ;  "  whilst  amongst 
his  neighbours  and  friends  he  is  almost  uni- 
versally known  as  "the  Professor."  I  am  not 
aware  what  view  Mr.  Ruskin  himself  takes  of 
the  distinction  thus  conferred  upon  him.  Let 
us  hope  he  values  the  title  more  highly  than 

»  "  Every  one  will  be  delighted  to  hear  that  Mr.  Ruskin 
has  been  re-elected  to  the  Slade  Professorship  of  Art  at 
Oxford.  Before  it  was  known  that  there  was  any  chance 
of  his  being  willing  to  resume  the  office,  various  excellent 
suggestions  were  made  for  recasting  its  duties  ;  but  when 
once  Mr.  Ruskin  consented  to  stand,  there  could  be  only 
one  opinion,  which  has  been  expressed  by  his  unanimous 
election.  Genius  is  not  an  over-common  quality  in  the 
occupants  of  professorial  chairs,  and  any  academical  body 
would  do  itself  honour  by  accepting  a  man  like  Mr.  Ruskin 
on  his  own  terms."— Pall  Mall  Gazelle,  January  17th,  1S83. 


40         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

another  famous  O.^ford  Professor,  who  was 
"always  sh}' of  assuming  that  honourable  style, 
because,"  said  he,  "this  is  a  title  I  share  with  so 
man3'distinguishedmen — Professor  Pepper,  Pro- 
fessor Anderson,  Professor  Frickel,  and  others 
— who  adorn  it,  1  feci,  much  more  thnn  I  do."  * 

But  Mr.  Ruskin's  Professorship  was  very  far 
indeed  from  being  only  titular  or  honorary.  He 
spent  himself  freely  in  carr3-ing  out  the  other 
functions  of  a  Professor  also — the  functions  of 
Research,  of  Education  (in  the  wider  sense  of 
that  term),  and  of  Professional  Teaching. 

Under  the  first  of  these  three  heads  it  is 
unnecessary  to  say  anything  here,  for  the  re- 
sults of  the  studies  in  art  history  and  criticism 
which  Mr.  Ruskin  undertook  in  connection  with 
the  Slade  Professorship  are  for  the  most  part 
contained  in  alreaily  published  works.  The 
following  is  a  list  of  the  books  which  were  origi- 
nally written  for  his  Oxford  Lectures  : — 

"  Lectures  on  Art."     (  Hilary  Term,  1870.) 
"  Aratra  Pentelici."     (Michaelmas  Term,  1870.) 
"The  Relation  between  M  ichael  Angelo  and  Tint orct."  t 
*  M.illlicw  Arnold  (at  that  time  Professor  of  Poetry  at 
Oxford),  in  the  original  Preface  to  "Essays  in  Criticism." 

t  This  lecture,  published  separately  in  pamphlet  form, 
for  the  convenience  of  travellers,  was  the  last  of  the  pre- 
ceding course. 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD.  4 1 

"  The  Eagle's  Nest."     (Lent  Term,  1S72.) 
"  Ariadne  Florentina."     (Michaelmas  Terra,  1872.) 
"  Love's  Meinie."     (Lent  Term,  1873.) 
" 'Val  d'Arno."     (Michaelmas  Term,  1873.) 
"  The  Art  of  England."     (Michaelmas  Term,  1883.) 
"  The  Pleasures  of  England."     (Michaelmas  Term, 
1884.) 

Besides  these  lectures  delivered  at  Oxford, 
Mr.  Ruskin  undertook  in  connection  with  his 
Professorship  a  series  of  Foreign  Guide-books. 
"  It  seems  to  me,"  he  said  ("  IVIornings  in 
Florence,"  p.  i),  "that  the  real  duty  involved 
in  my  Oxford  Professorship  cannot  be  com- 
pletely done  by  giving  lectures  in  Oxford  only, 
but  that  I  ought  also  to  give  what  guidance 
I  may  to  travellers  in  Italy."  The  books 
issued  in  execution  of  this  self-imposed  duty 
are — 

"  Mornings  in  Florence."     Six  chapters  of  "  Simple 

Studies  of  Christian  Art  for  English  Travellers." 
"  St.   Mark's  Rest."     An  essay  in  "  The  History  of 

Venice,  'Written  for  the  Help  of  the  Few  Travellers 

who  still  Care  for  her  Monuments." 
"  Guide  to  the  Principal  Pictures  in  the  Academy  of 

Fine    Arts    at   Venice.       Arranged   for   English 

travellers." 

To  which  should  perhaps  be  added  the  "Separate 


42         SOME   ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

Travellers'  Edition  "  of  chapter  iv.  of  the  "Bible 
of  Amiens,"  being  a  guide-book  to  Amiens 
Cathedral.  This  is  not  the  place  for  entering 
upon  any  critical  estimate  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  later 
writings  upon  Art,  but  the  foregoing  hsts  will 
show  that  in  point  of  quantity  Mr.  Ruskin  has 
a  creditable  record  of  Research  to  show  for 
the  ten  j-ears  of  broken  health  during  which 
he  held  his  Oxford  Professorship. 

But  it  is  not  only,  or  chief!}',  in  virtue  of  his 
professorial  writings  that  Mr.  Ruskin's  connec- 
tion with  Oxford  has  left  an  enduring  monu- 
ment behind  it.  The  writer  in  the  Edinbiirgli 
Review,  above  quoted,  condemns  the  educa- 
tional theory  of  professorships,  no  less  than 
the  "  eminent-man  theory,"  as  an  obsolete  sur- 
vival from  medifEval  days ;  and  Carlyle  said 
that  "  the  true  University  of  these  days  is  a 
Collection  of  Books  "  ("  Heroes,"  Lecture  V.). 
There  is  a  large  element  of  truth  in  this  point 
of  view :  larger,  perhaps,  than  the  Universities 
have  as  yet  recognised.  But  however  wide 
may  be  the  dispersion  of  books,  there  will 
always  remain  a  place  in  the  educational  sys- 
tem for  the  Living  Teacher  and  the  Living 
Voice.     Mr.  Ruskin's  Professorsliip  at  Oxford 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD.  43 

was  notable  for  the  full  use  he  made  of  these 
two  opportunities.  No  professor,  I  suppose, 
has  had  more  power  of  personal  influence  over 
his  pupils,  or  has  used  it  more  for  good,  than 
Mr.  Ruskin.*  One  of  the  methods  which  he 
adopted  for  gathering  a  circle  of  ardent  young 
men  around  him,  and  impregnating  them  with 
his  spirit,  was  the  subject  of  much  sarcastic 
comment.  This  was  the  famous  road-digging 
experiment.     No  one   was   more   alive   to   the 

*  Amongst  other  well-known  men  who  were  much  under 
Mr.  Ruskin's  influence  at  Oxford  were  Mr.  W.  H.  Mallock 
and  the  late  Prince  Leopold.  Mr.  Ruskin  somewhere 
refers  to  Mr.  Mallock's  "Is  Life  Worth  Living?"  as  "fault- 
lessly logical ;  "  and  Mr.  Mallock  described  Mr.  Ruskin,  in 
"  The  New  Republic,"  under  the  disguise  of  "  Mr.  Herbert " 
—  the  only  portrait  in  that  clever  book  which  is  not  also  a 
caricature.  "He  is  almost  the  only  man  of  these  days," 
some  one  is  made  to  say  of  "Mr.  Herbert,"  "for  whom  I 
feel  a  real  reverence — almost  the  only  one  of  our  teachers 
who  seems  to  me  to  speak  with  the  least  breath  of  inspira- 
tion." Prince  Leopold  also  entertained  a  warm  admiration 
for  and  friendship  with  Mr.  Ruskin,  to  whose  work  the 
Prince,  in  his  first  public  address,  paid  the  following  high 
tribute  : — 

"  It  is  not  only  at  Cambridge  that  it  will  be  felt  that  men 
of  culture  and  of  learning  hardly  have  a  worthier  aim  than 
to  carry  their  higher  thoughts  and  more  cultivated  know- 
ledge into  many  homes  which  perhaps  have  no  other  ways 
of  making  progress.  Of  such  aims  we,  at  O.xford,  have  a 
great  and  striking  example.     "We  have  seen  a  man  in  whom 


44         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    iMR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

amusing  side  of  the  affair  tiian  Mr.  Ruskin 
himself.  The  road  which  his  pupils  made  is, 
he  has  been  heard  to  admit,  about  the  worst 
in  the  three  kingdoms,  and  for  any  level  places 
in  it  he  gives  the  credit  to  his  gardener,  whom 
he  incontinently  summoned  from  Brantwood. 
Nevertheless  the  experiment,  even  from  the 
point  of  view  of  road-making,  was  by  no  means 
barren.  An  inch  of  practice  is  worth  a  3'ard 
of  preaching  ;  and  Mr.  Ruskin's  road-digging 
at  Ilincksey   gave  a   powerful  stimulus  to  the 

the  highest  gilts  of  rtfinemcnt  ;ind  of  genius  reside,  who 
yet  has  not  grudged  to  give  liis  best  to  others ;  who  lias 
made  it  his  main  effort — by  gifts,  by  teaching,  by  sympathies 
— to  spread  among  the  artisans  of  villages  and  the  labourers 
of  our  English  fields  the  power  of  drawing  a  full  measure 
of  instruction  and  happiness  from  this  wonderful  world, 
which  rich  and  poor  alike  gain  from.  We  have  seen  such 
a  man  in  Professor  Ruskin ;  and  among  all  the  lessons 
which  those  who  have  had  the  privilege  of  his  teaching 
and  his  friendship  must  have  carried  with  them  for  life, 
none,  I  think,  can  have  sunk  deeper  than  the  last :  that 
the  highest  wisdom  and  the  highest  treasure  need  not  be 
costly  or  exclusive;  that  the  greatness  of  a  nation  must  be 
measured,  not  alone  by  its  wealth  and  apparent  power,  but 
by  the  degree  in  which  its  people  have  learned  together,  in 
the  great  world  of  books,  of  art,  and  of  nature,  pure  and 
ennobling  joys."  (.Speech  at  the  Mansion  House,  in  sup- 
port of  the  London  Society  for  the  Extension  of  University 
Teaching,  February  igth,  1879.) 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD.  ^  45 

Gospel  of  Labour,*  of  the  same  kind  as  the 
later  and  independent  stimulus  of  Count  Tolstoi, 
of  whom  Mr.  Ruskin  has  spoken  gratefully  in 
recent  years  as  his  successor.  But  the  fact 
is  that  most  of  the  Oxford  road-diggers  were 
attracted  to  tlie  work,  not  for  its  own  sake,  but 
for  the  reward  of  it — the  reward  of  the  subse- 
quent breakfast-party  and  informal  talks  in 
Mr.  Ruskin's  rooms  at  Corpus.  It  was  in  Mr. 
Ruskin's  Oxford  Lectures  and  these  supple- 
mentary enforcements  of  their  teaching  that  the 
seeds  were  sown,  or  watered,  of  that  practical 
interest  in  social  questions  which  is  the  "Ox- 
ford movement "  of  to-day.  Among  the  under- 
graduate road-diggers  was  Arnold  Toynbee, 
who  rose  by  his  zeal  to  the  rank  of  foreman. 
"  He  was  thus  entitled,"  adds  his  biographer, 
"  to  appear  frequently  at  those  breakfasts  which 
Mr.  Ruskin  gave  to  his  young  friends,  and 
enlivened  with  quaint,  eloquent  conversation. 
Upon  men  like  Toynbee  intercourse  with  Mr. 
Ruskin  had  a  stimulating  eflect  more  durable 
than  the  actual  improvement  of  the  road  near 
Hincksey.       Toynbee     came    to    think    very 

*  See,  for  instance,  an  article  on  "  The  New  School,"  in 
the  Pall  Mall  Gazelle,  August  26th,  1SS9. 


46        SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

differently  from  Mr.  Ruskin  upon  many  subjects, 
and  especiall)'  upon  democracy,  but  always  re- 
garded him  with  reverence  and  affection."  *  It 
is  impossible  to  saj'  in  how  many  leaders  and 
followers  of  the  "young  Oxford"  movement 
Mr.  Ruskin's  influence  worked  directly  or  indi- 
rectly as  a  stimulus  and  an  inspiration.  What 
is  certain  is  that  the  actual  course  taken  by  that 
movement  has  followed  the  principles  preached 
by  Mr.  Ruskin.  "  I  tell  you,"  said  the  Pro- 
fessor of  Fine  Art,  at  the  close  of  one  of  his 
lectures,  "  that  neither  sound  art,  policy,  nor  re- 
ligion can  exist  in  England  until,  neglecting, 
if  it  must  be,  j'our  own  pleasure-gardens  and 
pleasure-chambers,  you  resolve  that  the  streets 
which  are  the  habitation  of  the  poor,  and  the 
fields  which  are  the  playgrounds  of  their  chil- 
dren, shall  be  again  restored  to  the  rule  of  the 
spirits,  whosoever  they  are,  in  earth  and  heaven, 
that  ordain  and  reward,  with  constant  and  con- 
scious felicit}',  all  that  is  decent  and  orderly, 
beautiful  and  pure."  It  is  the  conviction  of 
this  truth  that  has  led  to  the  Universities' 
Settlements  in  East  London.     "  My  Universit)' 

*  "Arnold  Toj'nbce."     Hy  T.  C.  Montague.     (Baltimore: 
Johns  Hopkins  University.) 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD.  47 

friends  came  to  me,"  says  Mr.  Ruskin,  "at  the 
end  of  my  Inaugural  Lectures,  with  grave  faces, 
to  remonstrate  against  irrelevant  and  Utopian 
topics  being  introduced."  *  Now  that  the  Uto- 
pia is  beginning  to  be  realized,  the  relevance  of 
it  is  more  apparent.  Sermons,  like  trees,  must 
be  judged  by  their  fruits. 

Mr.  Ruskin's  first  professorial  lecture  at 
Oxford,  it  may  be  interesting  to  say,  was  an- 
nounced for  the  theatre  in  the  Museum,  but  so 
great  was  the  crowd  that  the  Professor  and 
his  audience  adjourned  to  the  large  Sheldonian 
Theatre.  This,  however,  was  an  exception, 
and  the  usual  lecture-room  was  in  the  Museum. f 
The  crowd  was  always  very  great,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  be  outside  the  doors  an  hour 
beforehand    to    secure    a    good    seat.     At    the 

*  Mr.  Mallock  has  "  taken  off"  such  remonstrances  very 
cleverly  in  "  The  New  Republic,"  **  What  a  dreadful 
blowing-up  Mr.  Herbert  gave  us,"  he  makes  one  of  the 
characters  say.  "  Now  that,  you  know,  I  think  is  all  very 
well  in  a  sermon,  but  in  a  lecture,  when  the  things  are 
supposed  to  be  taken  more  or  less  literally,  I  think  it  is  a 
little  out  of  place." 

f  This  is  the  "Oxford  Museum,"  in  the  formation  and 
building  of  which  Mr.  Ruskin  took  so  lively  an  interest. 
See  "Arrows  of  the  Chace,"  i.  1S1-213,  and  "The  Oxford 
Museum"  (1 860). 


48         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

first  lecture  of  his  second  Professorship  there 
was  a  large  sprinkling  of  ladies  ;  subsequently 
tickets  were  issued,  which  were  confined  (with 
a  few  exceptions)  to  members  of  the  Uni\-er- 
sity.  On  man}'  occasions  Mr.  Ruskin  repeated 
his  lectures  twice  in  the  week,  in  order  to  give 
every  one  who  wished  to  hear  him  a  chance. 
The  attendance  of  undergraduates  was  invari- 
ably very  large.  This  was  the  more  remark- 
able as  the  lectures  were  always  given  in 
the  afternoon,  which  is  ordinarily  at  Oxford 
devoted  to  other  purposes  than  the  pursuit  of 
learning.  Mr.  Ruskin's  lectures  were  further 
remarkable  for  the  number,  comparativel}' large, 
of  graduates  which  they  attracted.  At  the  first 
lecture  of  his  second  Professorship  tiie  tlien 
Vice-Chancellor  (Professor  Jowett)  attended 
in  state  with  the  proctors,  and  rose  at  the  end 
to  say  a  few  graceful  words  of  welcome  and 
thanks,  which  were  received  witii  a  storm  of 
applause. 

But  the  charm  of  the  Living  Voice  in  Mr. 
Ruskin's  lectures  was  as  potent  as  the  in- 
fluence of  tile  Living  Teacher.  Tlic  ]iul)lished 
volumes  of  these  lectures  are  amongst  tlie  more 
important,   as   they  are  the   most   closely  and 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD.  49 

carefully  written,  of  his  works.  But  they 
convey  to  the  reader  only  a  faint  echo  of  the 
fascination  they  exercised  over  the  hearer.* 

Mr.  Ruskin  is,  indeed,  no  orator.  His  elo- 
quence is  studied,  not  spontaneous — the  elo- 
quence of  a  writer,  not  of  a  speaker.  His  voice, 
though  sympathetic,  is  neither  strong  nor  pene- 
trating. Of  action  he  has  little  or  none.  But 
one  quality  which  is  essential  to  a  successful 
speaker  Mr.  Ruskin  possesses  to  the  full — the 
quality  of  a  striking  personality.  No  one  who 
ever  attended  his  Oxford  Lectures  is  likely  to 
forget  the  bent  figure  with  the  ample  gown — 
discarded  often  when  its  folds  became  too  hope- 
lessly involved — and  the  velvet  college  cap,  one 
of  the  few  remaining  memorials  of  the  "  gentle- 
man commoner."  Mr.  Ruskin  is  a  great  believer 
in  the  importance  of  distinctive  dress. f     The 

*  "  I  have  heard  him  lecture  several  times  at  the  Royal 
Institution,"  says  Mr.  Mallock,  in  "The  New  Republic," 
"and  that  singular  voice  of  his,  which  would  often  hold  all 
the  theatre  breathless,  haunts  me  still,  sometimes.  There 
was  something  strange  and  aerial  in  its  exquisite  modu- 
lations, that  seemed  as  if  it  came  from  a  disconsolate  spirit, 
hovering  over  the  waters  of  Babylon  and  remembering 
Sion." 

t  See,  for  instance,  "  Eagle's  Nest,"  p.  2 1 2  ;  "  Two  Paths," 
p.   Ill ;  "Fors,"  1872,  xv.,  p.  9;  and  "  Val  d'Arno,"  p.  82,  in 

4 


50        SOME   ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S   WORK. 

habit  with  him  does,  or  should,  show  the  man. 
And  certainly  in  his  own  case  the  quaintnessof 
his  costume — the  light  home-spun  tweed,  the 
double-breasted  waistcoat,  the  ill-fitting  and  old- 
fashioned  frock-coat,  the  amplitude  of  inevitable 
blue  tie  * — accurately  reflected  something  of  the 
quaintness  of  his  mind  and  talk.  If  it  were  not 
for  the  peculiarly  delicate  hands  and  tapering 
fingers,  denoting  the  artistic  temperament,  the 
Oxford  Professor  might  have  been  taken  for  an 
old-fashioned  country  gentleman.  In  repose  Mr. 
Ruskin's  face  has  of  recent  years  been  furrowed 
into  sadness ;  but  the  blue  ej'es,t  piercing  from 
beneath    thick,    bushy    eyebrows,    have    never 

which  latter  passage  Mr.  Riiskin  argues,  with  an  clement 
of  truth,  that  the  history  of  the  world  might  have  been  difie- 
rent  if  soldiers  had  always  been  dressed  in  black  instead 
of  in  red,  and  monks  in  red  instead  of  in  black.  I  have 
heard  amusing  stories  told  of  the  too  literal  adoption 
of  "  the  Master's "  views  on  costume  by  some  of  his 
disciples. 

*  The  following  is  an  item  from  "Aflairs  of  the  Master." 
as  given  in  "Fors"  (1876,  p.  297) : — 

"July  16.  Geoghegan  (blue  neckties)  .  .  .  £^  o  o." 
f  Speaking  of  |)ortraits  of  him,  Mr.  Kuskin  says,  in 
"  Praetcrita  "  (ii.  73),  "  1  will  be  thus  far  proud  as  to  tell  the 
disappointed  spectator,  once  for  all,  that  the  main  good  of 
my  face,  as  of  my  life,  is  in  the  eyes — and  only  in  those 
seen  near." 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD.  5  I 

ceased  to  shine  with  the  fire  of  genius  ;  whilst 
the  smile  that  was  never  long  absent  when  he 
lectured,  lit  up  his  face  with  the  radiance  of  a 
singularly  gracious  and  gentle  spirit. 

Mr.  Ruskin  has  sometimes  been  accused  of 
lack  of  humour — an  accusation  made  of  most 
men  who  are  in  earnest.  That  the  Professor 
of  Fine  Art  took  both  himself  and  his  subjects 
seriously  was  very  obvious ;  but  not  less  ob- 
vious to  any  one  who  ever  heard  him  lecture 
was  his  saving  sense  of  humour.  Just  as  an 
ever-recurring  smile  relieved  an  expression  of 
prevailing  sadness,  so  a  play  of  humour  relieved 
the  sternness  of  teaching.  "  As  solid  as  the 
lecture  of  a  University  Professor  "  was  a  com- 
parison recently  applied  to  the  discourse  of 
some  politician.  Mr.  Ruskin's  earlier  Oxford 
Lectures  had  much  solid  stuff  in  them,  but  no 
lecturer  knew  better  than  he  how  to  relieve 
the  strain  by  supplying  those  diverticula  aiiKvna 
— those  pleasant  digressions — which  are  the 
salt  of  oral  discourse.  Mr.  Ruskin's  fads  and 
fancies  have  often  been  laughed  at,  but  by  no 
one  more  heartily  than  by  himself.  It  was  the 
frequent  digressions  in  the  form  of  self-depre- 
catory egoism   that  gave   a  peculiar  charm  to 


52         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

Mr.  Ruskin's  Lectures,  bj'  investing  them  with 
what  the  French  call  ititiinite,  with  the  per- 
sonal note  of  iamiliar  conversation.  A  lecture 
delivered  some  years  ago,  at  the  London  Insti- 
tution (December  4th,  1882),  afforded  at  the 
very  outset  a  case  in  point.  The  subject  origi- 
nallj'  announced  was  "  Crj'stallograph}',"  but  it 
had  subsequently  been  changed  to  "Cistercian 
Architecture,"  and  one  of  the  newspapers  had 
remarked  that  "  no  doubt  either  title  would  do 
equally  well."  Mr.  Ruskin  began  bj'  referring 
to  this  remark,  and  admitted  that  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  truth  in  it,  for  "  in  the  proposed 
lecture  on  Crystallograph}'  there  would  certainly 
have  been  allusions  to  Cistercian  Architecture, 
while  it  had  required  all  his  powers  of  self- 
denial  to  keep  Crystallography  out  of  the  lecture 
he  was  actuall}'  delivering.  He  was  not  equally 
successful  in  including  Cistercian  Architecture, 
and  he  was  amused  to  find  that  his  lecture  was 
five-parts  written  before  any  allusion  to  the 
architecture  in  question  came  in.  However, 
stones  had  always  been  interesting  to  him  only 
as  expressing  the  minds  of  their  builders  ;  and 
the  main  part  of  the  lecture  was  occupied  with  a 
delightful  sketch  of  the  principles  and  methods 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD.  53 

of  the  Benedictine  monks,  with  their  gospel  of 
manual  labour,  and  tlieir  good  work  in  agri- 
culture and  letters.  Then  followed  an  equally 
charming  description  (illustrated  by  diagrams) 
of  the  Monastery  of  Cluny,  which  was  con- 
trasted, in  Mr.  Ruskin's  manner,  with  a  picture 
of  our  modern  rural  economy — with  a  parson 
looking  on  at  the  '  restoration  '  of  his  church, 
while  the  squire  was  busy  with  plans  for 
agricultural  machinery,  which  would  send  the 
people  off  to  America."  *  At  Oxford,  where  he 
spoke  "  among  friends,  with  the  chaff  of  the 
citizens  winnowed  out,"  Mr.  Ruskin  permitted 
himself  greater  license  in  colloquial  banter. 
He  was  often  behindhand  with  the  preparation 
of  his  lectures,  and  sometimes  he  could  not 
even  get  through  the  regulation  hour  by  Charles 
Lamb's  expedient  of  making  up  for  beginning 
late  by  ending  early.  I  remember  one  occa- 
sion, during  the  course  on  "  The  Pleasures  of 
England,"  when  he  found  some  difficulty  in 
eking  out  the  time,  even  with  the  help  of  co- 
pious extracts  from  himself  and  Carlyle  ;  but 

*  Pall  Mall  Gazelle,  December  5th,  1882.  A  fuller 
report  of  the  lecture,  with  plan,  appeared  in  the  Art 
Journal  ioi  1883,  pp.  46-9. 


54        SOME   ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

he  kept  his  audience  in  good  humour  by  con- 
fessing to  some  '"bad  shots"  in  previous  lec- 
tures ;  bj'  telling  them  that  all  pretty  girls  were 
angels;  by  abusing  "the  beastly  hooter''  that 
woke  them  every  morning,  and  assuring  them 
that,  in  spite  of  appearances,  he  really  was  not 
humbugging  them.  The  digressions  and  in- 
terpolations in  Mr.  Ruskin's  Oxford  Lectures 
were,  however,  by  no  means  confined  to  pretty 
fooling  ;  often  they  were  passages  of  serious 
and  telling  eloquence.  I  remember  one  such  in 
the  lecture  on  "  The  Pleasures  of  Faith "  (see 
p.  223),  when  he  turned  aside  from  his  manu- 
script notes  to  refer  to  General  Gordon  as  a 
Latter-day  Saint  whose  life  still  illustrates  the 
age  of  faith.  Wc  are  too  much  in  the  habit, 
Mr.  Ruskin  had  been  saying,  of  "  supposing 
that  temporal  success  is  owing  either  to  worldly 
chance  or  to  worldly  prudence,  and  is  never 
granted  in  any  visible  relation  to  states  of  re- 
ligious temper" — as  if  the  whole  story  of  the 
world,  read  in  the  light  of  Christian  faith, 
did  not  show  "  a  vividly  real  yet  miraculous 
tenour  "  in  the  contrary  direction  !  "  I'nit  what 
need,"  Mr.  Ruskin  broke  ofT  to  say,  "to  go 
back  to  the  story  of  the  world  when  you  can 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD.  55 

see  the  same  evidence  in  the  history  of  to- 
day— in  the  hves  and  characters  of  men  like 
Havelock  and  Gordon  ?  "  Often,  too,  the  lec- 
turer would  lay  aside  his  manuscript  at  some 
important  point,  and  giving  free  play  to  his 
feelings,  drive  it  home  in  burning  passages 
of  extempore  irony.  Hence  the  published  lec- 
tures, printed  from  his  manuscript,  often  differed 
greatly  from  the  lectures  as  actually  delivered  ; 
and  therefore  I  have  thought  it  might  be  in- 
teresting to  give,  in  an  appendix,  besides 
some  notes  of  unpublished  lectures,  my  ab- 
stracts, made  at  the  time,  of  a  few  published 
ones. 

Another  thing  which  gave  special  interest  to 
the  Spoken  Lecture,  as  distinct  from  the  Printed 
Word,  does  not,  unhappily,  admit  of  similar  sam- 
pling. This  is  the  copious  illustration  of  the 
lectures  by  means  of  drawings,  diagrams,  and 
pictures,  upon  which  Mr.  Ruskin  used  at  Oxford 
to  spend  incredible  pains.  Those  who  have 
heard  his  lectures  in  London  will  be  already 
familiar  with  this  characteristic.  At  the  Royal 
Institution,  for  instance,  when  lecturing  on  Flam- 
boyant Architecture,  Mr.  Ruskin  prepared  quite 
a  considerable  exhibition  of  pictures,  drawings, 


56        SOME   ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's   WORK. 

and  photographs.*  On  a  more  recent  occasion, 
too,  at  the  London  Institution,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered how  the  lectures  on  "The  Storm-cloud 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century  "  were  illustrated  by 
a  series  of  coloured  pictures  executed  by  Mr. 
Arthur  Severn  from  drawings  bj'  Mr.  Ruskin 
("  kept  bottled  like  his  father's  sherries  "),  and 
thrown  on  a  screen  by  means  of  Mr.  Wilson 
Barrett's  limelight.  But  at  Oxford,  where  Mr. 
Ruskin  had  the  double  purpose  of  illustrating 
his  lectures  and  enriching  the  University  collec- 
tions, his  system  of  illustration  was  yet  more 
lavish  and  elaborate.  The  specimens  which  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  exhibiting  in  his  lectures 
may  be  divided  into  two  classes — (i)  standard 
and  permanent  works  of  art,  and  (2)  diagrams, 
copies,  and  enlargements  prepared  specially  to 
illustrate  or  enforce  some  passing  point.  Many 
specimens  of  the  former  sort,  and  a  few  of  the 
latter,  may  still  be  seen  in  the  cabinets  of  the 
"  Ruskin  Drawing  School  "  (see  next  chapter). 

'  A  catalogue  of  "  References  to  the  Scries  of  Paintings 
and  Sketches,  from  M r.  Ruskin's  Collection,  shown  in  UUis- 
tration  of  the  Relations  of  Flamboyant  Architecture  to 
Contemporary  and  Subsequent  Art,  at  the  Evening  Meeting 
of  the  Royal  Institution,  Friday,  January  29th,  1869,"  is 
one  of  the  rarer  Ruskin  |iani|)hlets. 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD.  57 

For  purposes  of  illustration  in  this  sort  Mr. 
Ruskin  had  the  University  galleries  as  well  as 
his  own  collections  to  draw  upon,  and  any  stu- 
dent who  attended  all  the  Slade  Professor's  lec- 
tures had  the  advantage  of  examining  at  one 
time  or  another  a  large  and  unique  gallery  of 
art  under  the  immediate  guidance  of  the  great 
critic.  The  large  table  in  the  theatre  and  the 
wall  behind  were  generally  covered  with  draw- 
ings and  pictures ;  most  of  these  would  be  re- 
ferred to  in  the  course  of  the  lecture,  whilst  at 
the  end  there  would  be  a  rush  to  the  front,  and 
the  Professor  would  hold  an  informal  "  class  " 
(as  the  University  Extensionists  call  it)  for  fur- 
ther explanation  and  criticism  of  the  pictures  to 
such  students  as  cared  to  stay.  But  it  was  the 
ingenuity  expended  in  the  preparation  of  tem- 
porary illustrations  that  gave  unique  interest  to 
Mr.  Ruskin's  Oxford  Lectures.  The  few  illus- 
trated volumes  of  these  lectures  that  have  been 
published  will  give  the  reader  some  idea  of  the 
care  which  the  Professor  bestowed  on  this  por- 
tion of  his  teaching.  But  only  a  few  of  the 
diagrams  and  pictures  exhibited  at  the  lecture- 
room  have  ever  been  reproduced  in  book  form. 
Mr.  Macdonald,  the  talented  and  zealous  master 


58         SOME    ASPECTS    OK    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

of  the  Ruskin  Drawing  School,  must  have  a 
large  collection  of  them,  for  it  was  upon  his 
willing  hands  that  the  work  of  preparing  the 
Professor's  whimsical  illustrations  mostl}'  fell. 
References  to  some  of  these  will  be  found  in 
the  reports  of  the  lectures  on  "  The  Pleasures 
of  England  "  which  are  given  in  the  Appendix. 
Many  more  were  exhibited  during  the  preceding 
course  on  "  The  Art  of  England."  Tlie  Eifth 
Lecture,  for  instance — that  on  "John  Leech 
and  John  Tenniel " — was  illustrated  by  the 
original  drawing  for  the  frontispiece  of  Punch, 
and  by  several  enlarged  reproductions  of  Mr. 
Dli  Maurier's  drawings — some  photographed 
by  Miss  Kate  Grcenaway's  brother,  and  others 
"  drawn  more  faithfully  than  any  photographer 
could  do,  by  Mr.  Macdonald."'  There  was  al- 
ways a  large  element  of  the  unexpected  in  Mr. 
Ruskin's  illustrations  (as  there  is  in  his  writ- 
ings). Generally  amongst  the  pictures  placed 
beforehand  on  the  wall  behind  the  lecturer, 
there  would  be  one  with  its  face  turned  to  the 
wall,  or  two  or  three  would  be  brought  in  at 
the  last  moment,  carefully  covered  up,  by  Mr. 
Ruskin's  servant.  The  audicnrc  would  always 
smile  in  anticipation  on  such  occasions,  for  they 


MK.    RUSKIN    AND    OXFORD.  59 

knew  that  some  pretty  jest  or  curious  fancy 
was  in  store.  Great  was  the  amusement  on 
one  occasion  when  a  hidden  treasure  was  dis- 
closed in  the  shape  of  a  sketch  from  Tintoret's 
"  Paradise,"  which  the  Professor— by  chance  or 
design — held  out  wrong  side  up.  "  Ah,  well," 
he  said,  joining  in  the  general  laughter,  "  what 
does  it  matter  ?  for  in  Tintoret's  '  Paradise ' 
you  have  heaven  all  round  you."  In  the  last 
lecture  of  "The  Art  of  England"  also  there 
was  a  characteristic  incident.  Mr.  Ruskin  was 
contrasting  the  way  in  which  modern  French 
art  looks  at  the  sky  with  that  in  which  Turner 
saw  and  drew  "  the  pure  traceries  of  the  vault 
of  morning."  "See,"  he  said,  "  what  the  French 
artistic  imagination  makes  of  it,"  and  a  drawing 
done  by  Mr.  Macdonald  from  a  French  hand- 
book was  disclosed,  showing  the  clouds  grouped 
into  the  face  of  a  mocking  and  angry  fiend. 
When  the  audience  had  had  their  look  and 
their  laugh,  Mr.  Macdonald  modestly  proceeded 
to  turn  his  sketch  with  its  back  to  the  wall 
again.  "  No,  no,"  interposed  Mr.  Ruskin, 
"  keep  it  there,  and  it  shall  permanently  re- 
main in  your  school,  as  a  type  of  the  loath- 
some   and    lying    spirit   of   defamation    which 


6o        SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

studies   man   only  in  the  skeleton  and  nature 
onl}'  in  ashes." 

But  perhaps  the  most  effective  piece  of  what 
ma}-  be  called  the  lecturer's  stage-play  was  one 
which  occurred  in  the  "  Readings  in  '  Modern 
Painters'"  (see  Appendix  I.).  Mr.  Ruskin  was 
expatiating,  as  was  his  wont,  on  the  vandalism 
of  the  modern  world.  On  an  easel  beside  him 
was  a  water-colour  drawing  by  Turner  of  (I 
think)  Leicester.  "The  old  stone  bridge  is  pic- 
turesque," he  said,  "  isn't  it  ?  But  of  course  you 
want  something  more  '  imposing  '  nowadays. 
So  you  shall  have  it."  And  taking  his  paint-box 
and  brush,  Mr.  Ruskin  rapidl}'  sketched  in  on 
the  glass  what  is  known  in  modern  specifications 
as  a  "  handsome  iron  structure."  "  Then,"  he 
continued,  "you  will  want,  of  course,  some  tall 
factory  chimneys,  and  1  will  give  them  to  you 
galore."  Which  he  proceeded  to,  in  like  fashion. 
"  The  blue  sky  of  heaven  was  prett}',  but  you 
cannot  have  everything,  you  know."  And  Mr. 
Ruskin  painted  clouds  of  black  smoke  over  the 
Turner  sky.  "  Your  '  improvements,'  "  he  went 
on, "arc  marvellous  'triumphs  of  modern  indus- 
try,' I  know  ;  but  somehow  they  do  not  seem  to 
produce  nobler  men  anil  wonun,  and  no  modern 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND   OXFORD.  6l 

town  is  complete,  you  will  admit,  without  a 
gaol  and  a  lunatic  asylum  to  crown  it.  So 
here  they  are  for  you."  By  which  time  not  an 
inch  of  the  Turner  drawing  was  left  visible 
under  the  "  improvements  "  painted  upon  the 
glass.  "  But  for  my  part,"  said  Mr.  Ruskin, 
taking  his  sponge,  and  with  one  pass  of  the 
hand  wiping  away  those  modern  improvements 
against  which  he  has  inveighed  in  vain  in  so 
many  printed  volumes—"  for  my  part,  I  prefer 
the  old." 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL. 

In  the  previous  chapter  some  account  has  been 
given  of  Mr.  Rusicin's  Oxford  Professorship  so 
far  as  his  lectures  and  general  educational  in- 
fluence were  concerned.  It  remains  to  say 
something  of  his  Professional  Teaching  in  the 
criticism  and  practice  of  Art.  Mr.  Ruskin,  it 
should  be  remembered,  had  in  this  matter  to 
create  his  own  duties.  The  Professorship  of 
Fine  Art  was  founded  in  1869,  in  pursuance  of 
the  will  of  Mr.  Slade,  and  Mr.  Ruskin  was  the 
first  Professor  elected.  It  fell  to  him,  therefore, 
to  organize  a  new  study  in  the  University  on 
his  own  lines.  The  conception  which  he 
formed  of  his  duties  was  clearly  defined  in  his 
Inaugural  Lectures,  and  in  the  less  accessible 
catalogues  referred  to  therein.  "  A  youth  is 
sent  to  the  Universities,"  he  said,  "not  to  lie 
apprenticed  to  a  trade,  nor  even  always  to  be 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  6;^ 

advanced  in  a  profession,  but  always  to  be 
made  a  gentleman  and  a  scholar."  He  con- 
ceived it,  theretbre,  to  be  "  the  function  of  this 
Professorship  to  establish  both  a  practical  and 
critical  School  of  Fine  Art  for  English  gentle- 
men :  practical,  so  that  if  they  draw  at  all,  they 
may  draw  rightly  ;  and  critical,  so  that  they 
may  both  be  directed  to  such  works  of  existing 
art  as  will  best  reward  their  study,  and  en- 
abled to  make  the  exercise  of  their  patronage 
of  living  artists  delightful  to  themselves  by  their 
consciousness  of  its  justice,  and  to  the  utmost 
beneficial  to  their  country,  by  being  given  only 
to  the  men  who  deserve  it."  It  was  in  order  to 
carry  out  this  double  function  of  the  Slade  Pro- 
fessorship that  the  "  Ruskin  Drawing  School" 
was  established.  The  school  has  two  sides  : 
first,  it  includes  a  large,  unique,  and  very  valu- 
able collection  of  works  of  art ;  secondly,  it  is 
a  School  of  Art,  under  a  master  appointed  by 
Mr.  Ruskin.  The  formation  of  the  collections 
was  necessary  in  order — as  Mr.  Ruskin  ex- 
plained to  his  pupils — "  to  call  your  attention, 
by  precision  of  copying,  to  the  qualities  of  good 
art,  and  to  give  you,  yourselves,  such  power  of 
delineation  as  may  assist  your  memory  of  visible 


64         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

things,  and  enable  j'ou  to  explain  them  intelli- 
gibly to  others."  The  establishment  of  a  School 
of  Art  under  a  special  master  was  necessar}'  in 
order  to  carr\'  out  Mr.  Ruskin's  special  theories 
of  Art  education.  "After  carefully  considering," 
he  wrote  in  1871,  "  the  operation  of  the  Ken- 
sington system  of  Art-teaching  throughout  the 
countr}',  and  watching  for  two  years  its  effects 
on  various  classes  of  students  at  Oxford,  I  be- 
came finally  convinced  that  it  fell  short  of  its 
objects  in  more  than  one  vital  particular  ;  and 
I  have,  therefore,  obtained  permission  to  found 
a  separate  Mastership  of  Drawing  in  connection 
with  the  Art  Professorship  at  Oxford ;  and 
elementary  schools  will  be  opened  in  the  Uni- 
versity galleries,  next  October,  in  which  the 
methods  of  teaching  will  be  calculated  to  meet 
requirements  which  have  not  been  contemplated 
in  the  Kensington  system"  ("  Fors  Clavigera," 
1871,  ix.,  p.  19).  These  two  sides  of  the 
Drawing  School — the  School  of  Art  and  the 
collection  of  specimens — were  developed  by 
Mr.  Ruskin  with  characteristic  zeal  and  gene- 
rosity. Me  began  to  accumulate  his  specimens 
immediately  on  his  appointment  to  the  Profes- 
sorship, and  he  added  to  lluni  throughout  his 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  6$ 

tenure  of  it.  In  1872  the  University  assigned 
the  western  wing  of  its  galleries  in  Beaumont 
Street  to  the  purpose  of  the  Ruskin  Drawing 
School,  and  Mr.  Ruskin  on  his  side  gave  to  the 
University  a  sum  of  £ 5,000  for  the  school's 
endowment.  The  Master  of  Drawing  appointed 
by  Mr.  Ruskin  was  Mr.  Alexander  Macdonald, 
to  whose  steady  teaching  the  Professor  bore 
repeated  testimony,  and  who  happily  still  occu- 
pies the  post. 

As  a  School  of  Art  for  University  students 
the  Ruskin  Drawing  School  has  not  been  a 
success.  Its  founder  did  not,  indeed,  begin 
with  any  great  expectations.  He  was  more 
anxious,  as  every  University  Professor  should 
be,  to  lay  down  standard  principles  of  teaching 
than  to  attract  large  numbers  of  scholars.  "  It 
matters  comparatively  little,"  he  said,  "  whether 
few  or  many  of  our  students  learn  to  draw ;  but  it 
matters  much  that  all  who  learn  should  be  taught 
with  accuracy"  ("Aratra  Pentelici,"  p.  viii.). 
But  those  who  learned  were,  I  fear,  fewer  than 
Mr.  Ruskin  hoped  even  in  his  least  sanguine 
moments.  "  As  for  the  undergraduates,"  he  said 
in  1883,  "I  never  succeeded  in  getting  more  than 
two  or  three  of  them  into  my  school,  even  in  its 

5 


66         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

palmiest  days."*  In  the  preface  to  the  new 
edition  of  his  Inaugural  Oxford  Lectures  (1887), 
Mr.  Ruskin  ascribes  the  failure  to  faults,  or 
circumstances,  in  him.  "  It  would  have  been 
necessary'  to  my  success,"  he  says,  "  that  I 
should  have  accepted  permanent  residence  in 
Oxford,  and  scattered  none  of  my  energy  in 
other  tasks.  But  I  chose  to  spend  half  my 
time  at  Coniston  Waterhead,  and  to  use  half 
my  force  in  attempts  to  form  a  new  social 
organization — the  St.  George's  Guild — which 
made  all  my  Oxford  colleagues  distrustful  of 
me,  and  man}'  of  my  Oxford  hearers  contemp- 
tuous." He  does  not,  he  added  at  the  same 
time,  retract  one  word  of  hope  for  the  success 
of  other  masters.  I  have  not  heard,  however, 
tliat  the  other  Slade  Professors  have  made  any 
more  progress  than  did  iVIr.  Ruskin  in  esta- 
blishing a  practical  School  of  Art  amongst  the 
Oxford  students.  Unless  and  until  Fine  Art  is 
added  to  the  University  curriculum,  and  to  the 
schools  in  which  degrees  may  be  obtained,  any 

•  On  a  recent  visit  to  the  Drawing  School  I  found  these 
palmy  days  continuing.  In  the  morning  there  was  a  lull 
class  of  ladies.  In  the  afternoon,  set  apart  for  undergradn- 
ates,  the  number  of  students  was  two. 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  6"] 

such  hope  is  chimerical.  Moreover,  the  atmo- 
sphere of  the  Universities  does  not  seem  con- 
ducive to  excellence  in  the  arts.  How  very- 
few  of  our  artists  have  come,  either  in  the  past 
or  in  the  present,  from  the  Universities  !  *  But 
though  the  undergraduates  held  back,  the  young 
ladies  of  O.xford  came  forward,  and  from  the 
institution  of  the  school  until  now  it  has  been 
largely  and  regularly  attended  by  them.  The 
system  of  teaching  carried  out  bj'  Mr.  Mac- 
donald,  under  Mr.  Ruskin's  instructions,  is  that 
defined  in  the  Inaugural  Lectures  (see  es- 
pecially Lecture  V.).  Its  distinctive  feature,  it 
will  be  remernbered,  is  that  whereas  students 
generally  learn  to  draw  details  first,  and  to 
colour  and  mass  them  afterwards,  in  the  Ruskin 
Drawing  School  they  learn  to  arrange  broad 
masses  and  colours  first,  and  to  put  in  details 
afterwards.  With  regard  to  the  order  in  which 
different  objects  are  studied,  the  following  "  Note 
by  Professor  Ruskin  "  was  issued  on  his  re- 
sumption of  the  Slade  Professorship  in  1883  : — 

"  I  leave  for  the  present  to  Mr.  Macdonald's  experi- 
ence and  judgment  the  direction  of  the  junior  students 

*  Amongst  eminent  living  artists  I  can  think  of  none  who 
was  educated  at  the  University  besides  Mr.  Briton  Riviere 
and  Mr.  Burne-Jones. 


68         SOME   ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

in  the  Ruskin  schools,  and  have  arranged  the  following 
scheme  of  work  for  students  of  either  sex  entering  our 
classes  from  the  age  of  sixteen  and  upwards,  adapting 
the  exercises  enforced  especially  to  the  conditions  of 
University  life,  but  yet  arranging  them  with  the  collateral 
view  of  their  probable  introduction  in  schools  where  more 
consistent  attention  to  the  subject  of  Art  could  be  given 
than  is  possible  in  connection  with  the  courses  of  read- 
ing at  present  necessary  to  distinction  in  Oxford.  The 
pass  certificates,  however,  will  ultimately  be  given  only 
to  students  who  have  attained  such  a  degree  of  skill 
as  must  imply  their  having  attended  in  the  school  with 
steadiness  during  the  whole  period  of  their  residence  in 
the  University,  giving  at  least  a  couple  of  hours  in  each 
week  out  of  tlieir  best  and  untired  time,  and  supple- 
menting the  work  done  in  residence  by  some  consistent 
practice  during  vacations. 

"  In  the  first  year  the  student  will  be  required  to 
attain  steadiness  and  accuracy  in  the  outline  of  simple 
forms,  and  ease  in  the  ordinary  processes  of  pure  water- 
colour  painting  ;  that  is  to  say,  he  must  learn  to  lay 
smooth  tints  within  spaces  of  complex  shape  without 
transgressing  their  limits,  and  over  spaces  of  large 
extent  with  equality  and  smoothness.  The  actual  exer- 
cises given  will  be  primarily  map-drawing,  with  the 
necessary  projections  of  the  sphere,  and  such  colouring 
and  shading  as  may  sufficiently  express  the  character 
of  the  country ;  next,  the  delineation  of  the  priimiry 
types  of  <;ood  ardiitcctiiral  constnictioii ;  and,  in  associa- 
tion with  these,  exercises  in  the  elements  of  ornamental 
design  in  colour  and  form  ;  the  drawings  being  carried 
forward  to  approximate  completion  in  light  and  shade. 

"  The  second  year  will  be  given  to  the  study  of 
landscape,  completing   in   connection  with   it   that  of 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  69 

architecture,  so  as  to  form  the  student's  taste  and  judg- 
ment in  that  art,  and  to  increase  to  the  utmost  degree 
possible  his  enjoyment  of  the  historic  buildings,  the 
natural  phenomena,  and  the  organic  beauty  of  the 
inanimate  world. 

"  In  the  third  year  he  will  be  required  to  draw  from 
the  beautiful  forms  of  life,  distinguishing  the  characters 
in  which  such  beauty  consists  from  those  of  awkward- 
ness or  deformity,  and  to  copy  a  certain  number  of 
examples  of  figure-painting,  such  as  may  sufficiently 
direct,  and  in  part  form,  his  taste  is  the  highest  walks 
of  art,  while  he  is  assisted  and  encouraged  at  the  same 
time  in  the  rapid  sketching,  both  of  animals  and  figures, 
from  nature,  so  as  to  give  liim  interest  in  familiar 
scenes  and  daily  nicidents. " 

This  note  proved,  however,  somewhat  of  a 
bnitimi  fiilnicn.  The  Professor  had  given  orders 
— so  he  explained  in  the  course  of  the  first 
lecture  on  "  The  Pleasures  of  England  " — that 
no  pupils  should  be  admitted  who  were  not 
prepared  to  conform  to  his  edict ;  but  this 
"  modest  ordinance "  having  had  the  effect  of 
emptying  the  school  of  its  former  pupils,  and 
not  having  tempted  new  scholars,  it  was  sub- 
sequently withdrawn,  and  the  young  ladies  of 
Oxford  were  once  more  to  be  admitted  "to  copy 
Turner  in  their  own  way."  Whether  owing  to 
this  licence  or  to  other  causes,  the  Drawing 
School  is  now  well  attended  by  them.     Probably 


/O  SOME    ASPECTS    OF    IMR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

if  the  exceptional  advantages  of  it  were  better 
known,  it  would  be   better  attended  still.     In 
Mr.  Macdonald  the  school  has  a  most  capable 
and    conscientious    master.      In    Mr.    Ruskin's 
collections,   which  will  presently  be  described, 
there  is  a  series  of  educational  examples  un- 
rivalled   by    any    other    in  the    country.      The 
adjoining   University  galleries  are  rich  in  old 
masters,  in  antique  sculptures,  and  in  vases  and 
other  similar  objects.     They  contain,  moreover, 
partly  by  gift  from  Mr.  Ruskin,  partly  on  loan 
from  the  National  Gallery,  a  superb  set  of  Turner 
drawings  ;  while  the  collection  of  drawings  in 
pen  and  chalk  by  Michael  Angelo  and  Raphael 
is  one  of  the  finest  in  Europe.    There  is,  further- 
more,  in    the    galleries   an  adequate  Fine  Art 
Library  ;  whilst  the  eminently  practical  lectures 
and  demonstrations  given  by  the  present  Slade 
Professor,  Mr.  1  lerkonur,  A.R.A.,  afford  oppor- 
tunities for  instruction  whicii  few  (if  any)  schools 
of  art  offer  on   similarly  easy  terms.     On   its 
practical  side  the  Ruskin  Drawing  School   de- 
serves far  greater  success  than  it  commands. 

The  same  remark  applies  with  equal  force  to 
the  collections  contained  in  the  school.  These 
collections    have    all    been    catalogued    by  Mr. 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  7 1 

Ruskin,  who  has  added  explanatory  or  descrip- 
tive notes  to  many  of  the  items,  and  referred  at 
length  to  several  others,  in  his  writings.  But 
the  catalogues  are  so  scarce  and  little  known 
that  some  general  account  of  the  collections, 
based  on  a  personal  examination,  may  be  of 
interest  to  students  of  Mr.  Ruskin.  Of  the 
pictures  and  drawings  placed  on  the  walls  of 
his  school,  Mr.  Ruskin  gives  the  following 
account : — 

"  In  the  alcove  I  have  placed  one  of  my  own  studies 
from  a  fresco  of  Luini's  at  Milan  ;  *  with  two  original 
designs  by  Edward  Burne  Jones,  '  Love  Bringing  back 
Alcestis  from  the  Grave,'  and  'The  Two  Wives  of 
Jason.'  These  two  drawings  and  the  original  of  my 
study  are  consummate  in  dignity  and  purity  of  concep- 
tion, and  the  best  examples  I  can  give  of  the  forms  of 
highest  art  which  1  think  should  be  held,  for  standard 
and  scope,  by  English  students. 

"  On  the  west  side  of  this  portion   of  the  room  is 

*  Speaking  of  the  colour  of  gules— a  full  soft  scarlet,  not 
dazzling,  but  warm  and  glowing— Mr.  Ruskin  says,  "  It  is 
used,  in  opposition  to  darker  purple,  in  large  masses,  in  the 
fresco  painting  of  later  Rome ;  is  the  dominant  colour  of 
ornamental  writing  in  the  middle  ages  (giving  us  the  eccle- 
siastical term  rubric),  and  asserts  itself  finally,  and  most 
nobly,  in  the  fresco  paintings  of  Ghirlandajo  and  Luini. 
I  have  tried. to  represent  very  closely  the  tint  of  it  Luun 
has  given  to  St.  Catherine's  mantle,  in  my  study  in  your 
schools"  ("Eagle's  Nest,"  §  226). 


j2         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

Tintoret's  sketch  for  his  picture  of  the  Doge  Avice 
Mocenigo  pra\'ing.  This  sketch,  once  belonging  to  Baron 
Rumohr,  is  full  of  interest  and  of  e.vemplary  qualities. 
The  other  paintings  or  drawings  on  the  walls  have  been 
made  under  my  direction  for  the  illustration  of  archi- 
tecture ;  except  the  Copley  Fielding  at  the  end  of  the 
room,  which  is  an  instructive  example  of  water-colour 
painting  of  the  old  school,  executed  by  washed  tints ; 
and  my  own  study  from  the  Castel-barco  tomb  at  Verona, 
on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  door,  in  going  out,  u^hich 
is  left  in  its  imfinished  state  to  show  the  mode  of  striking 
colour  at  once  frankly  on  the  white  paper  which  I  wish 
the  students  more  generally  to  adopt. 

"  None  of  these  paintings  or  drawings  are,  as  yet, 
formally  presented  to,  or  accepted  by,  the  University. 
Some  do  not  deserve  any  permanent  position  ;  and  I 
retain  for  the  present  the  power  of  removing  any  of 
them,  either  for  the  substitution  of  others  or  for  my 
own  occasional  use ;  but  if  the  collections  are  found 
sen'iceable  in  the  form  ultimately  proposed  for  them, 
and  the  system  of  teaching  in  accordance  with  which 
they  have  been  arranged  is  sanctioned  by  the  approval 
of  the  University,  and  recognized  as  a  part  of  its  edu- 
cational curriculum,  the  entire  series  of  examples  would 
remain  at  the  disposal  of  the  University  authorities.  In 
the  event  of  my  death  I  mean  them  to  be  so  left,  in 
their  present  form  ;  left,  that  is  to  say,  to  the  Uni- 
versity, if  it  accept  them  on  the  condition  of  not  altering 
their  arrangement.  I  do  not  speak  of  them  in  my  will  ; 
if  this  public  statement  of  my  intention  be  not  clear 
enough  to  stand  in  law,  it  may  fall,  and  I  shall  not 
disturb  myself.  ("  Instructions  in  the  Preliminary  Exer- 
cises Arranged  for  the  Lower  Drawing  .School,"  1873, 
PP-  2,  3.) 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  73 

Unfortunately,  Mr.  Ruskin  parted  from  the 
University  in  anger,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
and  the  Drawing  School  has  been  considerably 
dismantled  since  the  above  passage  was  written. 
The  only  notable  additions  are  a  water-colour 
copy  of  Carpaccio's  "  St.  Ursula's  Dream,"  * 
and  some  copies  made  for  Mr.  Ruskin,  by  Mr. 
Fairfax  Murray,  from  frescoes  by  Botticelli. 

But  far  more  curious  and  important  than  the 
works  of  art  hung  on  the  walls  of  the  Drawing 
School  are  the  collections  contained  in  the  cabi- 
nets arranged  round  the  room.  The  construc- 
tion of  these  cabinets  is  unique  and  deserves 
a  word  of  explanation.  They  are  of  polished 
mahogany,  and  externally  resemble  somewhat 
a  set  of  office  washing-stands.  Each  of  them 
holds  either  twelve  or  twenty-five  drawings. 
The  drawings  are  all  framed — some  in  plain 
oak  frames,  others  in    a   gilt  beading  of  Mr. 

*  Fully  described,  and  often  referred  to,  in  "  Fors  ;"  e.g., 
1872,  XX.,  p.  13;  1876,  pp.329,  340,  350,  357,  3S1;  1S78, 
p.  182.  See  also  Appendix  II.  to  this  book,  p.  4.  It  used 
sometimes  to  be  an  Oxford  pleasantry  to  ask  of  diligent 
attendants  at  Mr.  Ruskin's  Lectures  what  new  "  greatest 
painter  in  the  world  "  the  Professor  had  discovered  that 
day.  The  earliest  reference  to  Carpaccio  as  "  consum- 
mate "  occurred  I  believe,  in  his  1872  Lectures  ("Ariadne 
Florentina,''  p.  94). 


74        SOIME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S   WORK. 

Ruskin's  design* — and  each  frame  fits  into  a 
groove,  an  ivory  label  giving  the  number,  and 
a  small  leather  strap  for  taking  out  being  fitted 
to  one  side  of  the  frame.  The  contrivance 
combines  in  an  ingenious  way  security  from 
exposure  to  light  and  dust  with  handiness  for 
reference.  The  main  collections  are  three  in 
number,  entitled  respectively,  (i)the  Standard, 
or  Reference  Series,  (2)  the  Educational  Series, 
and  (3)  the  Rudimentary  Series.  Some  account 
of  the  meaning  of  these  several  titles  will  be 
given  presently.  Speaking  of  them  generally, 
one  notes — first  and  last — that  they  are  all  alike 
strictly  and  essentially  educational.  The  his- 
torical significance  or  artistic  quality  in  each 
specimen  is  what  is  tliought  of,  not  its  artistic 
finish  or  material  vahie.  Hence  that  quaint 
unexpectedness  which  has  been  noticed  as  cha- 
racteristic of  Mr.  Ruskin's  lectures  meets  one  at 
almost  everj' turn  in  these  collections.  "Price- 
less" Turner  drawings  are  arranged  cheek  by 
jowl  with  coloured  prints  from  old  books  of 
travels.     Exquisite  studios  from  nature  by  Mr. 

*  This  design,  easily  recognized  when  once  seen,  often 
enables  one  to  identify  as.  having  once  belonged  to  Mr. 
Ruskin's  drawings  on  view  in  sale-rooms  or  exhibitions. 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  75 

Ruskin  and  his  assistants  keep  company  with 
faded  photographs.  One  passes  from  early 
"  states "  of  choice  engravings  to  common 
prints  from  cheap  magazines.  One  soon  finds, 
nevertheless,  that  each  specimen  sufficiently  ful- 
fils its  special  purpose ;  and  any  curators  or 
committees  who  are  organizing  educational  col- 
lections of  fine  art  upon  limited  resources  would 
find  a  visit  to  the  Ruskin  Drawing  School  of 
great  interest.  To  the  casual  visitor  the  sudden 
contrasts  in  the  collections  will  be  perhaps  their 
principal  charm.  If  there  are  pleasures  of 
desultory  picture-seeing  as  well  as  "  pleasures 
of  desultory  reading,"  the  Ruskin  Drawing 
School — in  spite  of  its  elaborate  systems — is 
the  place  to  enjoy  them. 

To  offer  guidance  to  a  desultory  reader  is 
absurd  ;  and  most  desultory  visitors  will  prefer 
to  browse  upon  the  Ruskin  collections  at  their 
own  sweet  will.  But  it  may  be  worth  while 
to  note  one  or  two  points  which  will  be  found 
of  special  interest  by  students  of  Mr.  Ruskin's 
work  and  writing.  The  first  is  the  evidence, 
continually  recurring  in  each  of  the  collections, 
of  the  great  labour  spent  by  Mr.  Ruskin  upon 
this   part    of    his    Professorial    duties.       And 


^6        SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

herein  I  am  speaking  not  only  of  the  labour — 
heavy  though  that  must  have  been — involved  in 
collecting,  arranging,  cataloguing,  and  describ- 
ing nearly  nine  hundred  specimens,  but  also  of 
the  amount  of  Mr.  Raskin's  own  handiwork  con- 
tained in  his  cabinets.  Of  the  drawings,  some 
hundred  and  seventy  are  by  Mr.  Ruskin's  own 
hand,  and  of  these  a  very  large  number  were 
done  expressly  for  his  O.xford  work.  The 
quantity  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  literary  productions 
is  extraordinary ;  but  his  industry  is  amazing 
when  one  takes  count  of  his  work  as  a  draughts- 
man as  well.*  Moreover,  the  quality  of  his 
artistic  work  is  as  line  as  the  quantity  of  it  is 
large.  In  many  places  in  his  writings  Mr. 
Ruskin  has  spoken,  in  terms  which  have  some- 
times   seemed    absurdly    exaggerated,    of    the 

*  The  secret  of  Mr.  Kuskin's  enormous  output  appears  to 
be  his  habit  of  early  rising.  "In  summer,"  he  says,  "I 
have  been  always  at  work,  or  out  walking,  by  six  o'clock, 
usually  awake  by  half-past  four"  ("  Proeterita,"  ii.  217). 
And  not  only  in  summer ;  for  I  have  heard  him  say  that 
much  of  his  literary  work  has  throughout  his  life  been  done 
by  morning  candle-light.  In  one  of  his  Oxford  Lectures 
Mr.  Ruskin  charged  his  pupils  to  remember  that  "all  the 
vital  functions  rise  and  set  with  the  sun.  .  .  .  Sol  iUtituitintio 
twstra  est ;  Sol  sn/its  nostra  ;  Sot  sapicutia  nostra''  ("Eagle's 
Nest,"  §  t04  ;  sec  also  "  Two  I'aths,"  §  137  ;  "  Fors,"  1S7J, 
xxviii.,  p.  S  ;  xxxiv.,  p.  31  ;   1875,  P-  332)- 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  "JJ 

amount  of  time  spent  by  him  upon  rendering 
details  in  his  drawings.  In  copying  Veronese's 
''  Queen  of  Sheba  "  at  Turin  it  took  him  six 
weeks,  he  tells  us,  "  to  examine  rightly  two 
figures,"  and  one  day  he  was  "  upwards  of  two 
hours  vainly  trying  to  render  with  perfect  accu- 
racy the  curves  of  two  leaves  of  the  brocaded 
silk"  ("Cambridge  Inaugural  Address,"  p.  12). 
"  I've  been  two  whole  days  at  work,"  he  writes 
at  another  time,  "on  the  purple  marsh  orchis 
alone"  ("  Fors,"  1876,  p.  172).  "  No  one  has 
the  least  notion,"  he  complains,  "of  the  quantity 
of  manual  labour  I  have  to  go  through  to  dis- 
charge my  duty  as  a  teacher  of  Art.  Look  at 
the  frontispiece  to  Letter  20th  ["  Part  of  the 
Chapel  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Thorn,  Pisa  "],  which 
is  photographed  from  one  of  my  architectural 
sketches ;  and  if  you  can  draw,  copy  a  bit  of 
it ;  try  merely  the  bead  moulding  with  its 
dentils,  in  the  flat  arch  over  the  three  small 
ones,  lowest  on  the  left.  Then  examine  those 
three  small  ones  themselves.  You  think  I  have 
drawn  them  distorted,  carelessly,  I  suppose. 
No.  That  distortion  is  essential  to  the  Gothic 
of  the  Pisan  school ;  and  I  measured  every  one 
of  the  curA'es  of  those  cusps  on  the  spot,   to 


78         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

the  tenth  of  an  inch"  ("  Fors,"  1S75,  p.  255). 
Ever}'  one  who  examines  Mr.  Ruskin's  handi- 
work in  the  Drawing  School  will  soon  form  a 
very  clear  notion  of  the  quantity  of  manual 
labour  he  went  through  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duty  as  a  teacher  of  Art.  That  measuring  of 
curves  to  the  tenth  of  an  inch — conspicuous 
enough  already  in  the  illustrations  to  the 
"  Stones  of  Venice"  and  in  the  "  E.xampies  of 
Venetian  Architecture  " — is  here  seen  applied 
not  to  architecture  only,  but  to  every  natural 
form.  "  If  you  can  paint  one  leaf,"  says  Mr. 
Ruskin,  in  "Modern  Painters"  (vol.  v.,  pt.  vi., 
ch.  5,  §  2),  "3'ou  can  paint  the  world."  Mr. 
Ruskin  lays  no  claim  to  be  able  to  paint  the 
world,  or  indeed  to  any  high  rank  as  a  painter 
at  all,  but  he  has  at  least  gone  through  loyal 
apprenticeship  in  the  painting  of  leaves.  Look, 
for  instance,  at  the  exquisite  care  in  his 
"Peacock's  Feather"  (Reference  Series,  No. 
1 14),  with  so  much  patient  drawing  of  every 
detail  of  form  and  every  siiadow  of  colour ; 
or  in  his  "San  Michele,  Lucca"  (Educ,  83); 
or  in  the  pieces  of  rolled  gneiss  (Educ,  276) 
and  of  quartz  (Educ,  277),  showing  with 
the    last    degree    of  accuracy  every   vein   and 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  79 

weather-stain ;  or  in  the  plumage  of  partridge 
(Rudim.,  178).  No  matter  what  the  subject 
may  be,  whether  it  be  as  lofty  as  the  towers  of 
Lucca  or  as  lowly  as  the  grass  of  the  field,  the 
same  infinite  patience  is  conspicuous  everywhere. 
Not  that  Mr.  Ruskin's  work  is  inartistic  from 
excess  of  finish,  from  painting  what  he  knows 
by  microscopic  examination  to  be  there  rather 
than  what  he  sees.  In  many  cases,  indeed, 
he  does  break  this  great  artistic  canon  ;  but  he 
does  so  deliberately,  in  order  to  make  his  speci- 
mens lessons  in  collateral  science  as  well  as 
examples  of  draughtsmanship.  To  Mr.  Ruskin, 
as  we  have  seen  (p.  23),  the  teaching  of  Art 
is  the  teaching  of  everything.  One  great  rea- 
son for  the  method  adopted  by  him  in  teach- 
ing drawing  (see  above,  p.  6"])  was,  he  says, 
that  "  it  enables  me  to  show  you  many  things 
besides  the  art  of  drawing.  Every  exercise 
that  I  prepare  for  you  will  be  either  a  portion 
of  some  important  example  of  ancient  art  or 
of  some  natural  object.  However  rudely  or  un- 
successfully you  may  draw  it,  you  will  never- 
theless have  learned  what  no  words  could  have 
as  forcibly  or  completely  taught  you,  either  re- 
specting early  art  or  organic  structure ;  and  I 


So        SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

am  thus  certain  that  not  a  moment  you  spend 
attentively  will  be  altogether  wasted,  and  that, 
generally,  j'ou  will  be  twice  gainer  by  every 
effort."  "  The  first  principle,"  he  says  again, 
"  of  all  I  wish  to  enforce  in  my  system  here 
at  Oxford  is,  that  you  shall  never  make  a 
drawing,  even  for  exercise,  without  proposing 
to  learn  some  definite  thing  in  doing  so ;  nay, 
I  will  even  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  drawing 
will  never  be  made  rightly  unless  the  making 
it  is  subordinate  to  the  gaining  the  piece  of 
knowledge  it  is  to  represent  and  keep  "  ("  Cata- 
logue of  the  Rudimentary  Series,"  p.  30). 

Something  of  this  double  gain  will  accrue  to 
the  visitor  who  studies  Mr.  Ruskin's  exquisitely 
delicate  rendering  of  natural  objects,  and  reads 
his  discourses  upon  them  in  the  catalogues. 
Especially  interesting  are  the  studies  in  flowers 
and  leaves,  with  the  system  of  mytiiological 
reference  which  Mr.  Ruskin  attaches  to  tlicni 
(see,  for  instance,  Educ,  4-15,  and  Rudini., 
I,  227).  But  in  man}'  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  draw- 
ings there  is  high  artistic  merit  as  well  as  sci- 
entific interest.  Indeed,  the  best  of  them  are 
chief!)'  remarkable  for  the  success  with  which 
breadth  of  general  effect  is  combined  with  wealth 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  51 

of  local  detail.  As  examples  in  this  kind  the 
drawings  of  the  Grand  Canal  at  Venice  (Ref.,  66) 
and  of  the  market-place  of  Abbeville  (Ref.,  6i) 
may  be  mentioned.  The  latter,  being  a  very 
elaborate  study  of  one  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  "  motlier 
cities,"  is  of  especial  interest.  Many  of  the 
architectural  drawings  are  valuable  for  their 
minutely  faithful  record  of  buildings  since 
"restored."*  It  is  in  Mr.  Ruskin's  architec- 
tural sketches  with  the  silver-point  that  his 
artistic  gift  is  seen  at  its  best,  but  the  range  of 
his  studies  is  very  wide.  Besides  the  drawings 
of  architecture  and  flowers  already  referred  to, 
there  are  numerous  studies  of  clouds,  in  water- 
colour  (e.g.,  Educ,  3)  ;  etchings  from  Turner 
drawings  (e.g.,  Educ,  lOi)  ;  many  studies  of 
animals  {e.g.,  Educ,  153-7);  sketches  of  shells 
and   fish,   of  Japanese  enamels,   of  birds   and 

*  Mr.  Ruskin's  sketch  (Educ,  26)  of  the  north  porch  of 
the  west  front  of  Amiens  Cathedral,  made  in  1856,  before  its 
restoration,  is  a  case  in  point.  "The  colour,  in  1856,  was,'" 
he  says,  "an  exquisitely  soft  grey,  touched  with  golden 
lichen  ;  and  the  sheltered  sculpture  was  as  fresh  as  when 
first  executed,  only  the  exposed  parts  broken  or  mouldering 
into  forms  which  made  them  more  beautiful  than  if  perfect. 
Ail  is  now  destroyed,  and  even  the  sharp,  pure  rose  mould- 
ing (of  which  hardly  a  petal  was  injured)  cut  to  pieces,  and, 
for  the  most  part,  replaced  by  a  modern  design." 

6 


82         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

beasts  innumerable  (see,  especially,  the  "  King- 
fishers," Rudim.,  201-5);  many  admirable  land- 
scapes, especially  of  Swiss  scenes  (e.g.,  Educ, 
296,  297)  ;  and  studies  in  heraldic  design  (e.g., 
Rudim.,  8-1 1).  It  is  amusing,  after  noticing 
the  evidence  afforded  by  these  cabinets  of  Mr. 
Ruskin's  long  and  various  study  of  Art,  to  recall 
the  criticisms  which  have  spoken  of  the  Slade 
Professor  as  "learned  in  many  matters,  and  of 
much  experience  in  all,  save  his  subject,"  and 
as  "  talking  for  forty  years  of  what  he  has  never 
done."* 

•  Mr.  Ruskin  refers  to  this  criticism  by  anticipation  in 
the  Preface  to  tlic  tliird  volume  of  "Modern  Painters." 
"  There  arc  two  general  principles  to  be  kept  in  mind,'"  he 
says,  "  in  examining  the  drawings  of  any  writer  on  Art :  the 
first,  that  they  ought  at  least  to  show  such  ordinary  skill  in 
draughtsmanship  as  to  prove  that  the  writer  knows  what 
the  good  qualities  of  drawing  are  ;  the  second,  that  they  are 
never  to  be  expected  to  equal,  in  either  execution  or  con- 
ception, the  work  of  accomplished  artists — for  the  simple 
reason  that  in  order  to  do  rtHvthing  thoroughly  well  the 
whole  mind,  and  the  whole  available  time,  must  be  given 
to  that  single  art.  .  .  .  As,  however,  it  is  sometimes  alleged, 
by  the  opponents  of  my  principles,  that  1  have  never  done 
rtH_>'thing,  it  is  proper  that  the  reader  should  know  exactly 
the  amount  of  work  for  which  I  am  answerable  in  these 
illustrations,  etc."  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  though 
many  opponents  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  principles  do  allege  (like 
Mr.  Whistler)  that  he  has  "never  done  anything,"  the  latest 
and  (next  to  Mr.  Whistler)  the  most  violent  o])poiicnt  takes 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  83 

To  the  student  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  books  this 
collection  of  his  drawings  presents,  however, 
many  points  of  interest  besides  their  artistic 
merit.  Here,  for  one  thing,  are  the  original 
drawings  for  many  of  the  plates  with  which 
every  one  is  familiar  in  his  published  books. 
Readers  of  "  Proserpina,"  in  particular,  will  re- 
cognize many  old  friends  in  "Studies  of  Wayside 
Flowers;"  and  here,  too,  are  "The  Dryad's 
Crown  "  and  the  "  Purist  Landscape,"  engraved 
in  "  Modern  Painters  "  (Educ,  264,  269). 

a  precisely  contrary  line.  "  In  one  respect  only,"  says  the 
Edinburgh  Review  (January,  l8S8),  "we  are  prepared  to 
give  Mr.  Ruskin  nearly  unqualified  admiration,  namely,  in 
regard  to  his  own  artistic  work  as  far  as  it  has  gone :  with 
the  exception  of  those  unhappy  illustrations  to  the  '  Seven 
Lamps,'  his  own  drawing,  of  architecture  especially,  is  ad- 
mirable. When  two  or  three  of  his  own  landscapes  were 
exhibited  some  years  ago  in  Bond  Street,  along  with  his 
Turners,  our  impression  at  the  time  was  that  they  were 
equal  to  most  of  the  Turner  drawings  in  that  collection  ; 
at  all  events  his  drawings  of  portions  of  St.  Mark's,  exhibited 
more  recently  at  the  Society  of  Water-colours  Exhibition, 
were  of  the  highest  class,  and  such  as,  indeed,  of  their  kind, 
it  would  not  be  possible  to  surpass."  The  reviewer  mighi 
have  added  some  reference  to  the  admirable  plates  in 
"Modern  Painters"  of  the  Matterhorn  and  the  Chamoni.x 
Aiguilles,  "  in  which  Mr.  Ruskin  (to  quote  an  ex-President 
of  the  Alpine  Club),  to  whom  all  mountain-lovers  owe  a 
debt  of  gratitude  that  can  never  be  sufficiently  acknow- 
ledged, set  an  example  to  future  draughtsmen." 


84         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

The  drawings  are  rich,  too,  in  autobiographi- 
cal interest.  The  quality  of  iiitiinitr  which  has 
been  noticed  already  as  characteristic  of  Mr. 
Ruskin's  Lectures,  and  which  is  the  cause  at  once 
of  his  attraction  and  repulsion — attraction  to 
those  who,  being  in  full  sympathy  with  an  author, 
like  to  be  brought  near  to  his  personality  ;  repul- 
sion to  those  who,  being  without  such  sympathy, 
resent  the  personal  note  as  "arrogant  egotism  " 
— this  intimate  qualit)-  is  strongly  marked  in 
the  collection  of  drawings  at  Oxford.  Some- 
times, indeed,  Mr.  Ruskin  has  framed  actual 
leaves  of  his  travelling  diaries — diaries  com- 
posed partly  of  written  notes,  partly  of  rough 
sketches.  Thus  the  frame  No.  172  in  the 
Reference  Series  contains  some  leaves  from 
the  diary  of  an  Italian  tour  in  1S71.*'  The 
leaves  are  inserted  for  the  sake  of  their  archi- 
tectural studies  from  the  tombs  of  Roger  the 
First  and  Frederick  the  Second  at  Palermo  ;  but 
they  are  interspersed  with  travellers'  notes  such 
as  the  following  :  "  Segni,  west  of  line,  quarter- 
hour  past  N'elletri,  worth  stopping.     Just  past 

*  Some  references  to  this  tour,  .nnd  cspcci.illy  to  Palermo, 
will  be  found  in  "Ariadne  Floreiitina,"  §  165.  Sec  also 
Appendix  11.  to  this  book,  p.  238. 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  85 

Segni  Station,  west  portico  of  temple  on  hill,  very 
important.  Sparagla,  magnificent  hill  town." 
Indeed,  a  devoted  and  diligent  Ruskinian  might 
almost  compile  an  autobiography  of  the  Master's 
wanderings  from  these  Oxford  drawings.  Of 
his  Venetian  visits,  and  of  the  amount  of  work 
he  did  in  careful  architectural  study,  there  is 
abundant  evidence  in  several  cabinets.  Else- 
where we  find  him  at  Lucca  (Educ,  83-85).  A 
drawing  of  San  Michele,  containing  much  ex- 
quisite detail,  is  dated  "  1845.  J.  R."  This 
was  the  year  of  the  visit  to  Lucca  and  Pisa 
which  marked  an  epoch  in  Mr.  Ruskin's  mental 
and  artistic  development.  "The  inlaying  of 
San  Michele,"  he  tells  us,  "opposed  to  Gothic 
pierced  lace-work  (which  was  all  I  cared  for  in 
Gothic  at  that  time),  and  the  fine  and  severe 
arcades  of  finely  proportioned  columns  at  San 
Frediano,  doing  stern  duty  under  vertical  walls, 
as  opposed  to  Gothic  shafts  with  no  end,  and 
buttresses  with  no  bearing,  struck  me  dumb 
with  admiration  and  amazement"  (Epilogue  to 
small  edition  of"  Modern  Painters,"  vol.  ii. ;  see 
also  "  Praeterita,"  xviii.  and  xix.,  and  "  Fors," 
1874,  p.  192).  "  Dumb  with  admiration  and 
amazement,"  but  not  paralyzed  ;   and  here,  in 


86         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

these  O.xford  drawings,  we  have  the  first-fruits 
of  that  course  of  architectural  study  which  (says 
Mr.  Ruskin)  "  reduced  under  accurate  law  the 
vague  enthusiasm  of  mj'  childish  taste,  and  has 
been  ever  since  a  method  with  me,  guardian  of 
all  my  other  work  in  natural  and  moral  philo- 
soph}-."  Another  Italian  city,  connected  with 
another  epoch  in  Mr.  Ruskin's  mental  histor}-, 
is  Assisi.  It  was  there,  in  1S74,  he  tells  us,  that 
he  "  discovered  a  fallacy  which  had  underlain  all 
his  Art  teaching  since  the  year  185S"  ("  Fors," 
1877,  p.  lOi) — the  fallacy,  namely,  that  "reli- 
gious artists  were  weaker  than  irreligious." 
From  that  time  forward  Mr.  Ruskin's  critical 
estimates  of  the  Italian  painters  were  largely 
modified,  and  the  visit  to  Assisi  seems  to  have 
made,  as  was  natural,  a  great  impression  on 
his  mind.  "  Fors  Ciavigera"  for  1874-5-6-7  is 
full  of  allusions  to  the  sacristan's  cell  in  which 
he  worked,  and  he  gave  an  annual  gift  of  .^£^25 
to  the  monastery,  i  krc  (Rcf ,  297)  is  a  sketch 
of  the  very  cell,  which  is  described  at  length  in 
one  letter  (see  "  Fors,"  1874,  p.  223),  and  so 
often  referred  to  in  others.  In  like  manner, 
one  might  follow  the  vein  <if  autobiograjiliical 
interest  in  man^'  another  sketch  of  foreign  travel 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  87 

— tracing  Mr.  Ruskin's  course,  as  one  turns  over 
the  contents  of  these  cabinets,  to  Rheinfelden 
(Ref.,  93),  to  Fribourg  (Educ,  1 14),  to  Lucerne, 
(Educ,  116),  or  to  "  the  Rock  of  Arona  "  (Ref., 
92).  But  it  is  never  for  long  that  we  find  him 
away  from  his  country  home— studying  the 
flowers  and  mosses  of  the  wayside.  Here,  for 
instance  (Educ,  11),  is  an  exquisitely  faithful 
drawing  in  colour  of  a  wild  strawberry  plant, 
thus  inscribed  : — 

"  The  Rose  of  Demeter.* 

Spring  in  a  cleft  of  her  rocks. 

J.  Ruskin.     Brantwood,  June,  '73." 

Still  more  interesting,  perhaps,  to  those  who 
are  in  sympathy  with  the  author  of  "  Modern 
Painters  "  is  another  drawing  in  the  same  cabinet 
(Educ,  6),  a  "  study  of  a  few  blades  of  grass 
as  they  grew."     "  Examine  for  a  minute,  quietly, 

*  "  I  give  the  strawberry-blossom  to  Demeter  because  it 
is  the  prettiest  type  of  the  uncultured  and  motherly  gifts 
of  the  earth.  Also,  I  take  the  blossom  as  the  kindest  and 
usefullest  representative  of  the  Rose  tribe,  and  in  a  sort 
the  most  central ;  for  if  I  took  Rosa  Canina  instead,  it  would 
not  suggest  the  great  groups  of  the  potentillas  and  tor- 
mentillas;  nor  the  relation  to  the  anemone  through  the 
Urj'as ;  but  this  strawberry-blossom  expresses  the  place 
of  all  these,  and  yet  is  itself  clearly  a  little  white  rose." — 
Catalogue  of  the  Ed\icatwnal  Series,  p.  30. 


88         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

its  narrow,  sword-shaped  strip  of  fluted  green. 
Nothing,  as  it  seems,  there,  of  notable  goodness 
or  beauty.  A  verj'  little  strength,  and  a  ver}' 
little  tallness,  and  a  few  delicate  long  lines  meet- 
ing in  a  point — not  a  perfect  point  neither,  but 
blunt  and  unfinished,  by  no  means  a  creditable 
or  apparently  much  cared-forexampleof  Nature's 
workmanship ;  made,  as  it  seems,  only  to  be 
trodden  on  to-day,  and  to-morrow  to  be  cast 
into  the  oven  ;  and  a  little  pale  and  hollow  stalk, 
feeble  and  flaccid,  leading  down  to  the  dull  brown 
fibres  of  the  roots.  And  yet,  think  of  it  well, 
and  judge  whether  of  all  the  gorgeous  flowers 
that  beam  in  summer  air,  and  of  all  strong  and 
goodly  trees,  pleasant  to  the  eyes  or  good  for 
food — stately  palm  and  pine,  strong  ash  and 
oak,  scented  citron,  burdened  vine — there  be 
any  by  man  so  deeply  loved,  by  God  so  highly 
graced,  as  that  narrow  point  of  feeble  green. 
.  .  .  Consider  what  we  owe  merely  to  the  mea- 
dow grass,  to  the  covering  of  the  dark  ground 
by  that  glorious  enamel,  by  the  companies  of 
those  soft,  and  countless,  and  peaceful  spears. 
.  .  .  Go  out,  in  the  spring-time,  among  the 
meadows  that  slojx-  from  the  shores  of  the 
Swiss  lakes  to  the  roots  of  their  lower  mountains. 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  89 

There,  mingled  with  the  taller  gentians  and 
the  white  narcissus,  the  grass  grows  deep  and 
free;  and  as  you  follow  the  winding  moun- 
tain paths,  beneath  arching  boughs  all  veiled 
and  dim  with  blossom — paths  that  for  ever 
droop  and  rise  over  the  green  banks  and  mounds, 
sweeping  down,  in  scented  undulation,  steep  to 
the  blue  water,  studded  here  and  there  with 
new-mown  heaps,  filling  all  the  air  with  fainter 
sweetness — look  up  towards  the  higher  hills, 
where  the  waves  of  everlasting  green  roll  silently 
into  their  long  inlets  among  the  shadows  of  the 
pines  ;  and  we  may,  perhaps,  at  last  know  the 
meaning  of  those  quiet  words  of  the  hundred 
and  forty-seventh  Psalm,  '  He  maketh  grass  to 
grow  upon  the  mountains.'  " 

The  contents  of  the  Ruskin  Drawing  School 
are  not,  however,  "precious"  only  for  the  sake 
of  Mr.  Ruskin  himself.  The  specimens  are 
selected,  as  has  been  explained,  for  their  appro- 
priateness in  an  educational  series  ;  but  they 
include,  by  Mr.  Ruskin's  generosity,  many  en- 
gravings and  drawings  of  great  interest  and 
value  in  themselves.  Among  the  former,  Mr. 
Ruskin  notifies  the  woodcuts  by  Hans  Burg- 
kmair    (Rudim.,    26-38),   as   "  entirely    perfect 


90        SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MB.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

examples  of  execution  with  the  pure  black  line." 
But  there  are  also  several  by  Diirer,  as  well  as 
a  curious  photographic  enlargement  of  a  Ma- 
donna's head  by  him  (Ref,  144),  very  instruc- 
tive as  bringing  prominently  before  the  student 
the  distinctive  character  of  wood-cutting.  In 
which  connection  it  is  interesting  to  find  in  an 
adjacent  cabinet  the  frame  of  cheap  modern 
woodcuts  referred  to  by  Mr.  Ruskin  in  the  "  Art 
of  England  "  lectures,  in  which  he  maintained 
that  "  while  no  entirely  beautiful  thing  can  be 
represented  in  a  woodcut,  every  form  of  vul- 
garit}'  or  unpleasantness  can  be  given,  to  the 
life."  In  illustration  of  this  proposition  we 
have  here  (Ref,  164)  "a  collection  of  woodcuts 
out  of  a  scientific  survey  of  South  America,  pre- 
senting collectively,  in  designs  ignorantly  drawn 
and  vilely  engraved,  yet  with  the  peculiar  ad- 
vantage belonging  to  the  cheap  woodcut,  what- 
ever, through  that  fourth  part  of  the  round 
world  from  Mexico  to  Patagonia,  can  be  found 
of  savage,  sordid,  vicious,  or  ridiculous  in 
humanity"  ("  Art  of  England,"  p.  169).  After 
which  it  will  be  well,  perhaps,  to  turn  for  relief 
to  some  of  DUrer's  engravings  again  {e.g.,  ICduc, 
74,  75),   which  "  show  his  power  over  human 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  QI 

character  and  expression,  and  are  full  of  sugges- 
tions of  thought." 

Passing  next  from  engravings  to  copies  and 
transcripts  from  natural  forms,  we  shall  come 
across  a  great  deal  of  very  beautiful  work  by 
Mr.  Ruskin's  assistant,  the -late  Arthur  Burgess. 
His  work  meets  us,  indeed,  in  nearly  every 
cabinet,  and  we  cannot,  therefore,  notice  it  in 
detail.  The  reader  maj'  be  referred  to  the 
general  account  which  Mr.  Ruskin  recently  gave 
of  his  friend  in  the  "  Century  Guild  Hobby 
Horse"  (vol.  ii.,  46-53).  "  During  the  years," 
he  says,  "  when  I  was  lecturing,  or  arranging 
the  examples  in  my  schools,  Mr.  Burgess  was 
engaged  at  fixed  salary,  executing  either  the 
woodcuts  necessary  to  illustrate  my  lectures,  or 
drawings  to  take  permanent  place  in  the  school 
examples.  So  far  as  I  was  able  to  continue 
'  Proserpina,'  the  woodcuts  were  always  exe- 
cuted by  him ;  and  indeed  I  was  wholly  depend- 
ent on  his  assistance  for  the  effectual  illustra- 
tions of  my  most  useful  books.  Especially  those 
in  'Ariadne  Florentina' and  '  Aratra  Pentelici ' 
are  unequalled,  whether  in  precision  of  facsimile 
or  the  legitimate  use  of  the  various  methods  of 
wood  engraving  according  to  his  own  judgment." 


93         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

In  addition  to  this  work,  Mr.  Burgess  had  be- 
fore, in  1869,  been  to  Verona  with  Mr.  Ruskin, 
studying  the  Scala  tombs,  and  of  these  drawings 
also  many  examples  are  to  be  seen  in  the  Edu- 
cational Series  :  "  he  drew,"  says  Mr.  Ruskin, 
"as  architecture  had  never  been  drawn  before." 
Another  series  of  architectural  drawings  of  great 
interest,  historical  as  well  as  artistic,  arc  those 
by  another  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  assistants — the  late 
Mr.  Bunne}\*  The  drawings  of  Lucca  and 
Verona  (Ref.,  76-83)  are  good  examples  of 
"the  unwearied  care  and  perseverance"  of  that 
conscientious  artist.  Mr.  Ruskin's  affection  for 
Prout  and  W.  Hunt  is  well  known,  and  his  Draw- 
ing School  is  rich  in  examples  by  both  those 
painters.  Drawings  by  Prout  will  be  found  in 
Educ,  III,  129,  133-35,  ^'■'d  in  Rudim.,  25, 
85,  136,  137,  drawings  by  Hunt  in  Educ, 
168,  192,  213  ;  and  in  Rudim.,  59,  60,  179,  180. 
Amongst  the  Prouts  special  attention  may  be 
called  to  the  drawing  of  Mayence  (Rudim.,  136), 
both  as  an  admirable  example  of  his  fine  pencil 


•  An  interesting  and  sympathetic  memoir  of  Mr.  Biinney, 
from  the  pen  of  Mr.  A.  Wedderbiirn  {"  An  Oxford  Pupil  "), 
was  prefixed  to  the  "  Catalogue  of  the  Exhibition  held  at 
the  Fine  Art  Society  in  1S82." 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  93 

work,  and  as  a  record  of  a  singularly  pic- 
turesque scene  now  swept  away  by  modern  im- 
provements. Mr.  Ruskin  has  written  so  much,  in 
so  many  places,  about  "  old  William  Hunt "  that 
it  is  unnecessary  to  refer  to  his  drawings  here. 
It  may  be  interesting,  however,  to  mention  more 
particularly  a  study  of  "  Peach  and  Grapes " 
(Educ,  213),  which  Mr.  Ruskin  contrasts,  in 
virtue  of  its  "  general  look  of  greengrocery  and 
character  of  rustic  simplicitj',"  with  the  grave 
refinement  of  the  Italian  designers  illustrated 
elsewhere  in  the  same  series.  "  Generally 
speaking,"  adds  Mr.  Ruskin,  "you  will  find  our 
best  modern  art  has  something  of  this  quality 
— it  looks  as  if  done  by  peasants  or  untrained 
persons,  while  good  Italian  work  is  visibly  by 
accomplished  gentlemen.  .  .  .  '  I  like  to  see  a 
thing  fudged  out,'  said  William  Hunt  once  to 
me.  Yes,  but  to  see  it  felt  out,  and  known, 
both  out  and  in,  is  better  still."  All  the  Prout 
and  Hunt  drawings  in  these  cabinets  have  been 
presented  to  the  University  by  Mr.  Ruskin,  who 
has  further  enriched  them  with  several  drawings 
by  Turner.  Of  these  the  most  important  are 
Nos.  2  and  3  in  the  Reference  Series.  Speaking, 
in  his  first  lecture  at  Oxford,  of  "  the  instinctive 


94         SOME    ASPECTS   OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

love  of  landscape  "  which  is  characteristic  of 
English  art,  Mr.  Ruskin  reminded  his  hearers 
that  "  a  nation  is  only  worthy  of  the  soil  and 
the  scenes  that  it  has  inherited  wlien,  by  all  its 
acts  and  arts,  it  is  making  them  more  lovely 
for  its  children."  The  first  three  specimens 
selected  for  the  Reference  Series  were,  there- 
fore, of  landscape  scenes.  The  first — "  Brignal 
Banks,  on  the  Greta,  near  Rokeby  " — is  an  en- 
graving only  (the  original  drawing  by  Turner 
having  been  destroyed  by  fire),  but  is  "  a  per- 
fect type  of  the  loveliest  English  scenery, 
touched  by  imaginative  associations."  The 
second  example — the  "Junction  of  the  Greta 
and  Tees" — is  a  real  drawing  by  Turner — "  of 
all  1  have,"  said  Mr.  Ruskin,  "  tiie  one  1  had 
least  mind  to  part  with.  It  is,"  he  added,  "  a 
faultless  example  of  Turner's  work  at  the  time 
when  it  is  most  exemplary." 

The  third  Turner— a  scene  on  the  Loire, 
never  engraved — is  an  introduction  to  the  Loire 
Series,  previously  presented  by  Mr.  Ruskin  to 
the  University  galleries.  "Though  small,  it 
is,"  he  says,  "  very  precious,  being  a  faultless, 
and,  1  believe,  unsurpassable  example  of  water- 
colour    painting."       As    for    its    place    in    the 


THK    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  95 

Reference  Series,  it  was  "chosen  in  further  illus- 
tration of  the  pensiveness  of  the  chiaroscurist 
school.  It  is  painted  wholly  in  solid  colour,  as 
No.  2  is  painted  wholly  in  transparent ;  and 
the  two  drawings  together  show  the  complete 
management  of  colours  soluble  in  water  or  thin 
liquid  of  any  kind"  (Oxford  "Lectures  on 
Art,"  §  25,  "Catalogue  of  the  Reference  Series," 
pp.  2-4).  In  the  Rudimentary  Series  (No. 
300)  is  another  Turner  drawing,  to  which  in  a 
different  way  Mr.  Ruskin  attaches  special  im- 
portance. This  is  a  "Pen  and  Sepia  Sketch 
for  Unpublished  Plate  of  Liber  Studiorum  " — 
"unique  among  Turner's  sepia  sketches  for  its 
grace  and  ease."  These  are  the  most  important 
Turner  drawings  in  the  collection,  but  there  are 
many  others  of  considerable,  though  slighter, 
value.  Especially  interesting,  as  showing  the 
detailed  drawing  which  Turner  put  into  a  sketch 
before  laying  on  colour,  is  an  unfinished  study  of 
a  ruined  abbey  (Educ,  102) — "a  witness  to  you, 
once  for  all,"  says  Mr.  Ruskin,  "  of  the  right 
way  to  work  :  doing  nothing  without  clearly 
formed  intention,  nothing  in  a  hurry,  nothing 
more  wrong  than  you  can  help  ;  all  as  tenderly 
as  you  can,  all  as   instantly  as  you   can ;    all 


g6         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

thoughtfully,  and  nothing  mechanically."  Far- 
ther on,  in  the  same  series,  are  three  pencil 
sketches  (the  last  with  colour  begun)  by  Turner 
(Educ,  126-128)";  the  first,  an  earlj'  sketch  and 
rough  ;  the  second,  later  and  full  of  detail ;  the 
third,  specially  interesting  for  an  exquisitely 
rendered  thistle  in  the  foreground.  In  the  same 
cabinet  are  several  of  Turner's  architectural 
sketches ;  in  another  are  studies  of  fish,  birds, 
and  cattle  (Educ,  18 1-3,  185)  ;  and  in  the  last 
one,  a  few  sketches  ol'  clouds  and  hills  (Educ, 
292,  293,  300).  These  are  of  the  same  general 
characterasthe  numerous  studies  in  the  National 
Gallery.  A  further  batch  of  Turner's  drawings 
meets  us  in  the  Rudimentary  Series.  Very  in- 
teresting, as  a  specimen  of  work  not  common 
with  Turner,  is  the  Farnley  interior  (Rudim., 
14),  a  careful  study  of  armour  and  bric-a-brac. 
This  is  signed  "Turner,  R..\.,  1815."  Some 
other  drawings  in  these  series  were  included  in 
the  e.xhibition  held  at  the  Fine  Art  Society's 
galleries  in  1878,  and  a  simple  reference  to 
those  numbers  (126-31)  will  therefore  suffice 
here.  In  the  cabinet  containing  these  drawings 
there  are  also  some  of  the  wonderful  copies  of 
Turner  executed  for  Mr.  Ruskin  by  Mr.  William 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  97 

Ward*  (145-149).  The  Turner  drawings  de- 
scribed above  are,  it  should  be  remembered,  en- 
tirely distinct  from  the  other  series  of  sixty-one 
drawings  which  were  presented  by  Mr.  Ruskin 
to  Oxford  some  years  before,  and  which  hang 
in  the  University  galleries  above  the  Drawing 
School,  t     Furthermore,  the   Trustees    of   the 

*  Of  these  copies  Professor  Ruskin  says,  "  They  are 
executed  with  extreme  care,  under  my  own  eye,  by  the 
draughtsman  trained  by  me  for  the  purpose,  Mr.  Ward. 
Everything  that  can  be  learned  from  the  smaller  works  of 
Turner  may  be  as  securely  learned  from  these  drawings. 
I  have  been  more  than  once  in  doubt,  seeing  original  and 
copy  together,  which  was  which,  and  I  think  them  about 
the  best  works  that  can  now  be  obtained  for  a  moderate 
price,  representing  the  authoritative  forms  of  art  in  land- 
scape."— Catalogue  of  the  Fine  Art  Department,  Harvard 
University. 

f  Mr.  Ruskin's  gifts,  to  various  institutions,  of  Turner 
drawings  alone,  must  represent  a  money  value  of  several 
thousand  pounds.  (Some  years  ago  he  assessed  his  gifts 
to  Oxford  and  "St.  George"  at  £15,000.)  The  series  of 
Turners  given  to  the  Oxford  University  galleries  is  es- 
pecially fine.  Nor  was  the  gift  a  money  sacrifice  only. 
"  When,"  he  says  somewhere,  incidentally,  "  I  gave  away 
my  Loire  series  of  Turner  drawings  to  Oxford,  I  thought 
I  was  rational  enough  to  enjoy  them  as  much  in  the  Uni- 
versity gallery  as  in  my  own  study.  But  not  at  all !  I 
find  I  can't  bear  to  look  at  them  in  the  gallery,  because 
they  are  'mine'  no  more."  Elsewhere  he  makes  lighter  of 
the  gift.  "  It  is  a  woeful  fault  of  this  collection  of  mine, 
considered    as  illustrative    of  his    life,  that   there    are    no 

7 


98       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIX'S    WORK. 

National  Gallery  have  placed  on  loan  in  the 
same  galleries  a  large  number  of  sketches  from 
those  bequeathed  to  the  nation  ;  *  so  that  the 
collection  of  Turner  drawings  and  sketches  at 
Oxford  is  now  second,  in  importance  and  in- 
terest, only  to  that  at  the  National  Gallery 
itself. 

Finally,  we  must  not  forget  to  mention  among 
the  treasures  of  the  Riiskin  School  several 
drawings  by  distinguished  living  artists.  Some 
studies  of  flowers  by  Mr.  A.  McWIiirter  (Educ. , 
258-61)  and  landscapes  by  Mr.  A.  Goodwin 
(Rudim.,  139-42)  arc  well  worth  looking  at. 
There  is  a  very  interesting  pencil  drawing  of  a 
lemon  tree  by  Sir  Frederick  Leighton,  done  at 
Capri,  and  signed  "  L.  59."  The  delicac}'  with 
which  every  piece  of  fruit  and  foliage  is  rendered 
is    unsurpassable.       It    is    an    example    which 

Venetian  sketches  in  it.  I  gave  all  I  liad  to  Cambridge  and 
Oxford,  not  generously,  but  because  to  think  of  Venice  now 
is  mere  misery  to  me  "  (Notes  on  his  "  Drawings  by  Turner," 
p.  105).  ThcCambridge  gift  consisted  of  twenty-five  Turner 
drawings,  again  very  choice  specimens,  to  the  Filzwilli.nm 
Museum  at  Cambridge. 

*  The  loan  comprises  two  luindrcd  and  fifty  drawings, 
arranged  by  Mr.  Ruskin  into  twenty-five  scries,  and  eight 
sketch-books. 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  99 

"determines  without  appeal,"  says  Mr.  Ruslcin, 
"the  question  respecting  necessity  of  delineation 
as  the  first  skill  of  a  painter.    Of  all  our  present 
masters,  Sir  Frederick  Leighton  delights  most 
in  softly  blended  colours,  and  his  ideal  of  beauty 
is  more  nearly  that  of  Correggio  than  any  seen 
since  Correggio's  time.     But  you  see  by  what 
precision    of   terminal    outline  he    at  first   re- 
strained,   and    exalted,    his    gift    of    beautiful 
vaghczza  ("The  Art  of  England,"  pp.  97-8). 
Equally  exemplary  are  the  pencil  drawings  of 
Mr.   Burne-Jones.       "  His    outline,"   said    Mr. 
Ruskin,  in  the  same  course  of  lectures  (p.  65), 
"  is  the  purest  and  quietest  that  is  possible  to 
the  pencil.     Nearly  all  other  masters  accentuate 
falsely,   or    in    some    places,    as    Richter,   add 
shadows  which  are  more  or  less  conventional ; 
but  an  outline  by  Burne  Jones  is  as  pure  as 
the  lines  of  engraving  on  an  Etruscan  mirror, 
and  1  placed  the  series  of  drawings  from  the 
story  of  Psyche  in  your  school  as  faultlessly 
exemplary  in  this  kind.     Whether  pleasing  or 
displeasing    to    your   taste,   they  are    entirely 
masterful ;  and  it  is  only  by  trying  to  copy  these 
or  other  such  outlines  that  you  will  fully  feel 
the   grandeur  of  action  in   the   moving    hand, 


lOO       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

tranquil  and  swift  as  a  hawk's  flight,  and  never 
allowing  a  vulgar  tremor  or  a  momentar}'  im- 
pulse to  impair  its  precision  or  disturb  its 
serenity."  The  Psyche  drawings  referred  to  in 
this  passage  are  to  be  found  in  the  Educational 
Series,  Nos.  64-72,  &  223.  The  last  one  is  par- 
ticularly noted  by  Mr.  Raskin,  in  his  catalogue, 
as  the  best  possible  example  of  "  refinement  in 
design  obtained  by  perfectly  simple  and  firm 
equality  of  outline,  and  of  the  decorative  placing 
and  arranging  of  every  accessory.  There  is  not 
a  cluster  of  grass,  nor  are  there  two  leaves  set 
side  by  side,  throughout  the  drawing,  without 
perfect!}'  invented  decorative  relation  to  each 
other."  There  are  also,  b}'  Mr.  Burne-Jones, 
a  "Study  for  Head  of  Danae"  (Educ,  224) 
and  two  studies  from  Tintoret  (Educ,  225,  and 
Rudim.,  1 1 3).  Lastly,  in  a  separate  cabinet  are 
"  XII.  Drawings  by  Francesca  Alexander,  given 
to  Oxford  by  John  Ruskin,  1S83."  These  are 
the  original  drawings  for  the  "  Roadside  Songs 
of  Tuscany,"  by  the  American  lady  Miss 
Francesca  Alexander,  to  whose  art  gift  Mr. 
Ruskin  has  of  late  years  paid  the  highest  tri- 
butes, and  whose  drawings  have  been  placed 
in  his  school  "  to  be  standards  of  method,  in 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  lOI 

drawing  from  the  life,  to  students  capable  of 
a  determined  industry."  * 

The  desultory  account,  now  completed,  of 
the  drawings  in  Mr.  Ruskin's  School,  will  have 
given  the  reader  some  idea  of  the  wealth  of  in- 
terest to  be  found  in  its  cabinets.  But  the  visitor 
who  wishes  to  derive  from  them  their  full  edu- 
cational value  should  examine  them  in  the 
order  and  upon  the  system  devised  by  Mr. 
Ruskin  for  his  pupils.  In  order  to  understand 
this  system,  it  is  necessary  to  remember,  in  the 
first  place,  the  double  purpose  which  Mr.  Ruskin 
had  in  view.  His  principal  object  was  to  esta- 
blish in  the  University  a  School  of  Criticism  ; 
his  second,  to  establish  a  School  of  Art.  With 
the  former  object  in  view,  he  collected  the 
Standard  or  Reference  Series  of  examples  ;  with 
the  latter  object  in  view,  the  Educational  and 
the  Rudimentary  Series.  The  scope  of  the 
former    series    is    sufficiently  indicated   by   its 

*  Miss  Alexander's  graceful  sketches  of  the  Tuscan  pea- 
santry— both  in  pen-drawing  and  in  writing — will  be  familiar 
to  many  readers  in  "The  Story  of  Ida,"  "The  Roadside 
Songs  of  Tuscany,"  and  "Christ's  Folk  in  the  Apennine.' 
An  interesting  description  of  the  lady  herself  was  recently 
published  in  the  New  York  Crilic  and  summarized  in  the 
Pall  Mall  Gazette  (May  13th,  18S7). 


I02       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

title ;   it  was  to   be  a  series  of  "  standards  to 
which  you  may  at  once  refer  on  any  question- 
able point,  and  by  the  study  of  which  you  may 
gradually  attain  an  instinctive  sense  of  right, 
which  will  afterwards  be  liable  to  no  serious 
error.   .  .   .  The  real  utility  of  the  series  will 
depend  on  its  restricted  extent — on  the  severe 
exclusion  of  all  second-rate,  superfluous,  or  even 
attractively  varied  examples — and  on  the  con- 
fining the  students'  attention  to  a  few  types  of 
what  is  insuperably  good  "  (Oxford  "  Lectures  on 
Art,"  §  2i).     This  Standard  Series  was  origin- 
ally intended  by  Mr.  Ruskin  to  comprise  four 
sections  of  a  hundred  pieces  each — illustrating 
severally,  (i)  the  schools  of  painting  in  general, 
(2)  the  sculpture  and  allied  arts  of  the  Gothic 
races,  (3)  the  sculpture  and  allied  arts  of  the 
Greeks,  and  (4)  the  special  skill  of  modern  times. 
This,  however,  remains  "a  counsel  of  perfec- 
tion."     Mr.    Ruskin   has  always   been   one  of 
those  (to  use  a  vulgar  but  expressive  phrase) 
whose  "  eyes  arc  bigger  than  their  stomachs." 
All  that  he  actually  arranged  was  the  first  of  the 
four  sections  above  enumerated,  and  even  there 
he   only    reached    half-way  through   his   task. 
The  "schools  of  painting  in  general ''  were,  in 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  IO3 

their  turn,  to  have  been  subdivided  into  two 
sections,  of  fifty  each,  containing  severally,  (a) 
standards  for  illustration  o'i  indliuds,  (/>)  forms  of 
thought  in  Christian  painting.  It  is  the  first  of 
these  two  sub-sections  only  which  got  itselt 
arranged.  It  is  to  be  found  in  the  pieces  num- 
bered 1-50,  contained  in  the  first  two  of  the  large 
cabinets  which  occupy  the  alcove  of  the  Draw- 
ing School.  The  following  rough  analysis  of 
their  contents,  with  occasional  references  to  Mr. 
Ruskin's  lectures,  etc.,  may  possibly  be  of  in- 
terest to  the  student  (pp.  104-5). 

Here,  as  above  explained,  the  so-called  "  Stan- 
dard Series"   breaks  off;  the  remaining  large 
cabinets,    placed     in    the    alcove,    contain    the 
"  Reference  Series,"  which  is  described  by  Mr. 
Ruskin  as  being  of  "  quite  mixed  character." 
There  are,  moreover,  a  great  many  blanks  in  it ; 
but  although  arranged    in  no  very  systematic 
order,  these  cabinets  cover  to  a  large  extent  the 
second  and  third  groups  mentioned  above  (see 
p.  102),  namely,  the  art  of  the  Gothic  races  and 
of  the  Greeks  respectively.     Thus  they  include 
(i)  a  large  number  of  specimens  of  "  the  archi- 
tecture which  depends  chiefly  for  its  effect  on 
the  sculpture  or  colouring  of  surfaces,  as  opposed 


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I06       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

to  that  which  depends  on  construction  or  pro- 
portion of  forms,"  and  (2)  several  designs  from 
vases,  etc.,  illustrative  of  the  essential  features 
of  Greek  Art.  But  it  would  be  useless  to  look 
for  systematic  arrangement  where  none  was 
intended.  The  Reference  Series  was  intended 
for  miscellaneous  reference  only.  It  should 
be  studied  in  connection  with  Mr.  Ruskin's 
lectures.  In  these  lectures  he  illustrated  his 
arguments  point  by  point — historical,  moral,  or 
technical — by  reference  to  actual  examples  of 
art :  this  Reference  Series  was  to  be  the  gradu- 
ally' accumulated  collection  of  such  examples, 
and  in  the  Oxford  "  Lectures  on  Art "  the  reader 
will  find  it  continuall}-  referred  to  in  this  wa}'. 

With  the  Educational  and  the  Rudimentary 
Series,  which  now  remain  to  be  explained,  the 
case  is  different.  These  collections  were  ar- 
ranged with  a  view  rather  to  use  in  a  working 
School  of  Art  than  for  reference  in  critical  lec- 
tures. The  Educational  Series  was  the  first  to 
be  arranged,  and  was  intended  for  the  compara- 
tivel}'  mature  University'  students  whom  I\Ir. 
Ruskin  originallj'  hoped  to  attract.  It  soon, 
however,  became  evident  that  Mr.  Ruskin's 
pupils  would  be  mainly  young  ladies,  and  for 


THE    RUSKIN'    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  lO/ 

their  benefit  the  Rudimentary  Series  was  next 
arranged.  The  two  series  are,  thus,  nearly 
parallel,  the  latter  being  slightly  more  elemen- 
tary than  the  former.  Each  series  consists  of 
twelve  cabinets,  and  each  cabinet  contains  (or 
should  contain)  twenty-five  specimens.  The 
general  arrangement  of  the  cabinets  is  as 
follows  (p.  io8). 

In  the  following  analysis  some  description  is 
given  of  the  specimens  selected,  and  of  the 
method  of  their  arrangement.  I  go  thus  into 
detail  because  Mr.  Ruskin's  Drawing  School 
may  well,  I  think,  afford  valuable  hints  for  the 
arrangement  of  school  museums  and  elementary 
Art  galleries — such  as  should  exist  in  every 
town,  if  not  in  every  school. 

The  Educational  Series. 

I.  Introductory  :  Exercises  in  Flowers. 

These  are  elementary  exercises  in  outline  and  flat- 
tint.  But  Mr.  Ruskin  designedly  makes  them 
exercises  also  in  elementary  botany  and  mytho- 
logy. He  selects,  for  copying,  sketches  of  the 
tribes  of  flowers  "which  have  had  the  strongest 
influence  on  the  human  mind  in  all  ages  " — e.g., 
the  amaryllids  (Christ's  "  lily  of  the  field  "),  the 
irids  (the  ion  of   Ionia  and   the  fleur-de-lis  of 


I08       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 


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THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  IO9 

Christian   Europe),   the   asphodels   (the   Greek 
flower  of  immortalit)' ),  and  the  lilies  (tlic  lily  of 
the  Annunciation). 
The  actual  examples  here  are  mostly  drawings  by 
Mr.  Ruskin  or  his  assistant. 

II.  Elementary  Greek  Design. 

Examples  of  architecture,  vase-painting,  etc.,  illus- 
trative of  the  strictness  of  Greek  design.  This 
cabinet  includes  engravings  of  the  Parthenon 
and  the  Erechtheium,  sketches  of  the  foliage  on 
Greek  coins,  and  engravings  of  mythological 
designs  on  Greek  vases. 

III.  Northern   Gothic  Design:   (i)   in  Arcliitectiirc, 
(2)  ill  its  Resultant  Art. 

The  object  of  this  cabinet  is  to  illustrate  "  the 
course  of  the  arts  in  the  North  of  Europe,  from 
the  development  of  their  first  perfect  elementary- 
school  of  round-arched  architecture  to  the  con- 
summate work  of  German  artists  in  the  sixteenth 
century." 

The  examples  are  arranged  in  the  following  order: — 
Architecture  :  (i)  the  primary  form  of  ecclesias- 
tical architecture — photograph  of  Norman  chapel 
near  Abbeville;  (2)  a  central  type  of  pure 
Gothic  sculpture — photograph  of  Chartres  Cathe- 
dral ;  (3)  "  a  quite  balanced  example  of  perfect 
Gothic,  uniting  all  its  elements  (figure-sculptures, 
diaper  surface-ornament,  foliation,  absolute  sim- 
plicity of  mechanical  structure  in  gable  and 
arch) " — photograph  of  small  north  door  of 
Notre  Dame  ;  (4)  characteristic  English  Gothic, 
when    it    separated    itself    from    German   and 


I  10       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

French — Front's  drawings  of  York  Minster  and 
of  the  chapel  on  the  bridge  of  Wakefield  ;  (5) 
"  the  grandest  achievement  of  Gothic  architec- 
tural science  " — photograph  of  the  spire  of  Stras- 
burg  Catliedral  ;  (6)  the  relation  of  Late  Gothic 
to  domestic  life — photographs  of  Hotel  Bourg- 
theroude,  Ronen,  and  of  wooden  houses  at 
Abbeville.  Resultant  Art:  engravings  from 
Diirer  and  Holbein,  etc. 

IV'.  ItalitiK  Gothic  Design  .•  ( i )  in  Architecture,  ( 2 )  in 
its  Resultant  .Irt. 

The  corresponding  object  of  this  cabinet  is  to 
illustrate  "  the  course  of  Southern  (that  is  to  say, 
essentially  of  Italian)  Art,  from  its  fir.st  asser- 
tion of  itself  as  a  distinct  style  in  the  thirteenth 
century  to  its  perfect  results  in  the  sixteenth." 
The  last  cabinet  illustrated  also,  in  the  work  of 
Holbein  and  Diirer,  the  intellectual  power  in  the 
North  which  led  to  the  Reformation.  This  "ex- 
hibits the  full  force  of  pure  Catholicism  in  Italy, 
and  of  the  highest  Christian  Art,  which  is  its 
expression." 

The  examples  given  are — of  Architecture,  several 
drawings  by  Mr.  Ruskin  from  Verona,  Lucca, 
Como,  Padua,  and  Venice  (also  a  photograpli  of 
the  famous  Colleone  statue)  ;  of  Resultant  Art, 
photographs  of  Filippo  Lippi's  "  Annunciation  " 
and  "  Nativity  "  at  Florence,  and  Luini's  "  Adora- 
tion of  the  Magi." 

v.  iS:  VI.  Landscape. 
The  examples  liere  arc  not  arranged  on  any  easily 
discernible  system,  Mr.  Ruskin  being  guided,  no 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  I  I  I 

doubt,  in  their  selection,  by  liis  own  preferences 
and  by  his  possession  of  Turner  drawings.  The 
landscape  examples  begin  with  an  etching  from 
Turner's  "  Banks  of  the  Loire  "  (in  the  Oxford 
University  Galleries),  "  because  it  illustrates  the 
chief  motive  in  sentiment  with  Turner,  and  with 
all  the  great  landscapists — rest,  in  clear  air  and 
by  sweet  waters,  after  the  day's  due  labour. 
(Compare  the  saw  left  in  the  wood,  here,  with 
the  plough  in  the  last  vignette  to  Rogers's 
poems,   '  Datur  hora  quieti.')" 

'VII.  &  VIII.  Elcniciitary  Zoology. 

"Illustrations  of  the  treatment  of  animal  form  by 
the  liigher  methods  of  sculpture  and  painting." 
Most  of  the  examples  here  are  drawings  by 
Turner,  Hunt,  and  Mr.  Ruskin.  But  the  follow- 
ing studies  or  photographs  from  old  masters, 
etc.,  are  included:  "Pulpit  at  Siena,"  with  sup- 
porting animals  ;  Diirer's  "  St.  Jerome  and  Lion  ;  " 
"  The  Lion  of  St.  Mark's  ;  "  Carpaccio's  "  Red 
Parrot"  (from  the  "St.  George"  Series);*  and 
Giovanni  Pisano's  "  Eagle  "  at  Pisa. 

*  "A  beautiful  scarlet — 'parrot'  (must  we  call  him?), 
conspicuously  mumbling  at  a  violet  flower  under  the  steps  ; 
him  also — finding  him  the  scarletest  and  mumblingest  parrot 
T  had  ever  seen — I  tried  to  paint,  in  1S72,  for  the  Natural 
History  Schools  of  O.xford — perhaps  a  new  species,  or 
extinct  old  one,  to  immortalize  Carpaccio's  name  and  mine. 
■When  all  the  imaginative  arts  shall  be  known  no  more, 
perhaps  in  Darwinian  Museums,  this  scarlet  Epops  Carpaccii 
may  preserve  our  fame  "  ("St.  Mark's  Rest,"  "The  Shrine 
of  the  Slaves,"  p.  9).    The  "  Epops  Carpaccii  "  is  Educ,  161. 


112       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

IX.  Connection    between    Decorative    and  Realistic 
Design. 

"  Many  of  the  photographs  and  engravings  in  the 
first  eight  cabinets  are  for  study  only,  not  for 
copying ;  but  all  in  the  last  four  are  intended 
for  exact  guidance  in  practice."  The  examples 
in  this  cabinet  include  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
century  missals,  the  sculpture  on  the  angles  of 
the  Ducal  Palace,  and  Mr.  Burnc  Jones's  Psyche 
drawings. 

X.  Etching,  E7igraving,  and  Outline  Drawing. 

The  models  selected  by  Jlr.  Ruskin  for  these 
branches  of  art  are  Holbein,  Diirer,  Leonardo, 
and  Turner;  whilst  Rembrandt's  "Angels  Ap- 
pearing to  the  Shepherds"  is  given  as  "an 
example  of  every  kind  of  badness." 

XI.  Foliage. 

Here,  again,  are  several  engravings  from  Turner 
("Florence from Fiesole,"  "  Buckfastleigh,""  Aske 
Hall,"  "  Rokeby,"  "  Kirkby  Lonsdale  ") ;  also  pho- 
tographs or  sketches  from  Botticelli  ("Spring") 
and  Raphael  ("Madonna  of  the  Tribune"). 

XII.  A'oc/:s,  Water,  and  Clouds. 

Here  the  examples  are  almost  entirely  of  Turner's 
work.  Mr.  Ruskin  was  able  to  include  many 
originals,  and  has  added  some  of  his  own 
studies  ;  but  any  reader  of  "  Modern  Painters  " 
will  know  what  engravings  or  photographs  from 
Turner  would  best  illustrate  the  subject. 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWINO    SCHOOL.  II3 

The  Rudimentary  Series. 

This  series  follows  so  closely  the  lines  of  the  Educa- 
tional that  it  does  not  seem  worth  while  to  describe  it 
in  detail.  The  following  points  may,  however,  serve 
as  supplementary  suggestions  for  the  formation  of  any 
similar  collection  of  examples.  Under  Division  I., 
above,  Hans  Burgkmair's  woodcuts  representing  the 
Triumph  of  Maximilian  I.,  and  photographs  or  sketches 
of  many  royal  shields  and  tombs,  are  added.  Under 
Divisions  VII.  and  VIII.  the  prints  of  Gould's  "  English 
Ornithology  ''  are  given  :  "  Entire  dependence  may  be 
placed,"  says  Mr.  Ruskin,  "  on  their  accuracy  of  repre- 
sentation, and  I  believe  even  a  few  examples  will  be 
greatly  useful  in  exciting  the  interest  of  the  younger 
students  in  ornithology,  and  especially  in  the  living 
birds."  .Some  plates  from  Curacci's  "  Natural  History  " 
and  Le  Vaillanfs  "  Birds  of  Paradise  "  are  also  given. 
The  examples  of  Crasser,  etc.,  are  taken  from  "  Floras 
Danicse"  and  Mr.  Loudon's  "  Bulbous  Plants." 

The  inventory  of  the  Ruskin  Drawing  School 
which  has  now  been  completed  will,  I  hope, 
have  given  the  reader  some  idea  of  its  curious 
and  unique  interest.  It  is  interesting  as  things 
are  ;  but  if  all  had  gone  well  with  Mr.  Ruskin, 
it  would  have  been  more  interesting  still,  and 
even  now  it  might  be  made  far  more  interesting 
than  it  is.  In  its  present  condition  the  Draw- 
ing School,  on  its  exhibition  side,  is  little  more 
than    an   outline.       There   is   enough   to  show 

8 


114       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

what  Mr.  Ruskin  intended  to  make  of  it,  but  his 
intentions  are  to  a  large  extent  left  unfulfilled. 
The  explanatory  catalogues  remain  half  un- 
written, and  the  cabinets  are  left  either  imper- 
fectly filled  or  altogether  empty.  "  I  must 
myself,"  he  wrote  in  1870,  "make several  more 
careful  drawings,  to  take  the  place  of  hurried 
ones  ;  and,  especiallj'  in  the  supplementary  ex- 
amples of  rock  and  tree  drawing,  some  of  the 
engravings  will  be  ultimately  changed,  or  have 
drawings  put  in  their  place."  "  The  greater 
number  of  examples  I  shall  choose,"  he  said,  in 
his  first  lecture  at  Oxford,  "  will  not  at  first  be 
costly.  But  in  process  of  time  I  have  good 
hope  that  assistance  will  be  given  me  by  the 
English  public  in  making  the  series  here  no  less 
splendid  llian  serviceable."  l)uring  his  first 
tenure  of  the  Slade  Professorship  these  pur- 
poses steadily  advanced,  though  most  of  the 
"splendid"  specimens  added  to  the  collections 
were  the  result,  I  fanc)',  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  un- 
aided generosity.  When  he  resumed  the  Pro- 
fessorship in  1883  he  resumed  also  his  work 
upon  the  Drawing  School.  A  rearrangement 
of  the  specimens  was  begun,  and  Mr.  Ru.skin 
placed  many  fresh  treasures  at  the  service  of 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  II5 

his  pupils.  In  April,  1885,  however,  Mr.  Ruskin 
abruptly  resigned  his  post,  and  resigned  it 
— as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  letter  of 
explanation — in  bitterness  and  ve.xation  of 
spirit : — 


"  MR.  RUSKIN  AND  THE  SLADE 
PROFESSORSHIP. 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

"  Sir, — By  mischance  I  have  not  till  to-day  seen  your 
kindly  meant  paragraphs  on  my  resignation  of  the  Slade 
Professorship  at  Oxford.  Yet  permit  me  at  once  to 
correct  the  impression  under  which  they  were  written. 
Whatever  may  be  my  failure  in  energy  or  ability,  the 
best  I  could  yet  do  was  wholly  at  the  service  of  Oxford  ; 
nor  would  any  other  designs  or  supposed  duties  have 
nterfered  for  a  moment  with  the  perfectly  manifest 
duty  of  teaching  in  Oxford  as  much  Art  as  she  gave  her 
students  time  to  learn.  I  meant  to  die  in  my  harness 
there,  and  my  resignation  was  placed  in  the  Vice- 
Chancellor's  hands  on  the  Monday  following  the  vote 
endowing  vivisection  in  the  University,  solely  in  conse- 
quence of  that  vote,  with  distinct  statement  to  the 
Vice-Chancellor,  intended  to  be  read  in  Convocation,  of 
its  being  so.  Tliis  statement  I  repeated  in  a  letter  in- 
tended for  publication  in  the  University  Gazette,  and 
sent  to  its  office  a  fortnight  since.  Neither  of  these 
letters,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  yet  been  made  public.  It 
is  sufficient  proof,  however,  how  far  it  was  contrary  to 
my  purpose  to  retire  from  the  Slade  Professorship,  that 


Il6      SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIx's    WORK. 

I  applied  in  March  of  last  year  for  a  grant  to  build  a 
well-lighted  room  for  tlie  undergraduates,  apart  from 
the  obscure  and  inconvenient  Raskin  School ;  and  to 
]>urchase  for  its  furniture  tlie  two  Yorljsliire  drawings  by 
Turner  of  "  Crook  of  Lune  '  and  "  Kirkby  Lonsdale  " — 
grants  instantly  refused  on  the  pica  of  tlic  University's 
being  in  debt. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"John  Ruskin. 

"Rrantwood,  April  T.i,th,  i<S8;." 

The  refusal  of  the  University  to  meet  Mr. 
Ruskiii's  lavish  generosity  in  any  corresponding 
spirit  undoubtedI\' had  something  to  do  with  his 
resignation.*     But  whatever  may  have  been  the 

*  I  had  some  conversation  with  Mr.  Ruskin  on  this  sub- 
ject a  few  months  afterwai'ds.  "  Double  motives,"  lie  said, 
"  are  very  useful  things;  you  can  do  a  thing  for  two  that 
you  could  not  do  for  one.'  The  vivisection  vote  was  per- 
haps tile  principal  motive  of  his  resignation  ;  but  cUagnn  at 
what  he  thought  the  niggardliness  of  the  University  was  a 
secondary  one.  Immediately  on  resuming  the  Professor- 
ship in  1883,  he  had  given  expression  to  this  grievance. 
"  He  noticed  in  his  lecture  yesterday,"  said  the  Pall  Mall 
Gazelle,  Nov.  Sth,  1883,  "as  characteristic  of  the  scientific 
tendencies  of  the  present  day,  that  while  the  University 
will  spend  ^100,000  or  even  j^l 50,000  in  decorating,  in  a 
style  as  incorrect  as  it  is  un-English,  rooms  for  the  torture 
of  her  students,  she  gives  her  art-workers  nothing  better 
than  a  cellar  to  draw  in,  and  her  Art  Professor  no  other 
place  for  the  storage  of  his  models  than  a  corner  of  his 
private  olTicc  in  the  gallery.     Mr.  Ruskin  might  have  added 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  II7 

cause,  the  fact  is  certain  that  he  parted  from  his 
old  University  in  anger.  He  removed  from 
the  Drawing  School  most  of  such  interesting 
specimens  as  were  not  included  in  his  previous 
deed  of  gift,  and  it  is  unlikely — especially  now 
that  the  Ruskin  Museum  at  Sheffield  has  as- 
sumed definite  shape — that  they  will  ever  be  re- 
stored. The  contemplated  rearrangement  was 
abandoned,  and  the  specimens  that  remained 
were  put  back  into  their  old  places — with  the 
result  that  there  are  a  great  many  gaps  in  most 
of  the  cabinets. 

It  is  a  thousand  pities  that  something  should 
not  be  done  to  bring  the  collections  into  a  more 
completed  order,  and  to  make  them  more  gene- 
rally useful.     I  do  not  doubt  that  the  University 

what  must  have  occurred  to  most  of  his  closely  packed  and 
half-stifled  audience,  that  it  was  a  pity  the  Slade  Professor 
had  no  better  place  to  lecture  in  than  the  theatre  of  the 
museum.  Meanwhile  the  study  of  figure  drawing  set  on 
foot  by  Mr.  Richmond  is  impossible,  Mr.  Ruskin  said,  until 
the  University  makes  the  *  indispensable  additions'  to  the 
Taylorian  buildings."  Recently,  I  may  add,  the  University 
has  made  considerable  enlargements  to  its  galleries,  and  it 
was  proposed  to  accommodate  the  Ruskin  Drawing  School 
in  one  of  the  new  rooms.  It  has  been  decided,  however,  to 
retain  the  genius  /oci,  and  leave  it  in  its  original  quarters, 
the  chief  inconvenience  of  which  is  that  the  room  is  lighted 
entirely  from  the  east. 


Il8       SOME   ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

had  good  reasons  for  refusing  the  considerable 
expenditure  for  which  Mr.  Ruskin  asked.  But 
having  in  its  possession  collections  of  great 
\alue,  it  is  surel}-  false  econonn-  to  grudge  the 
trifling  expenditure  necessar}'  to  make  those 
possessions  capable  of  yielding  their  full  return 
in  usefulness.  The  University  galleries  them- 
selves(and  not  the  Ruskin  Drawing  School  only) 
stand  in  need  of  o\erhauling — there  is  not  even 
so  much  as  a  complete  catalogue  of  the  pictures, 
and  the  proper  course,  therefore,  would  seem  to 
be  to  appoint  some  one  to  the  dutj-  of  organizing 
and  supervising  both  collections."  The  work 
which  such  an  expert  might  do  in  the  Ruskin 
Drawing  School  is  very  simple,  but  ver}'  useful. 
The  Standard  Series  should  be  revised  and 
completed  on  the  general  lines  laid  down  bj' 
Mr.  Ruskin.  The  Educational  and  Rudimen- 
tary Series  should  be  amalgamated.  An  ex- 
planator}'  and  descriptive  catalogue  should  then 
be  prepared,  in  the  comjiilation  of  which   Mr. 

*  At  Cambridge,  Mr.  Micldlcloii,  the  Slado  Professor,  has 
just  been  appointed  Curator  also  of  the  University  galleries. 
The  Curators  of  the  University  Galleries  at  Oxford  arc  a 
large  board.  The  Keeper  is  Mr.  Macdonald,  whose  work, 
however,  is  already  too  heavy  to  leave  him  time  for  any 
sueh  task  of  reorganization  as  is  suggested  above. 


THE    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  I  I9 

Ruskin's  own  catalogues  would  of  course  prove 
of  great  value,  but  which  might  well  give  more 
systematic  and  historical  treatment  than  it  was 
within  his  purpose  to  attempt.  The  service 
which  the  Ruskin  Drawing  School,  thus  re- 
organized, might  render  to  the  cause  of  artistic 
education  throughout  the  country  is  very  great. 
Whether  O.xford  is  ever  likely  to  produce  a 
flourishing  School  of  Art  may  well  be  doubted  ; 
but  there  is  no  reason  whatever  why  it  should 
not  set  a  standard  for  schools  and  museums  of 
art  elsewhere.  What  Manchester  with  inferior 
resources  has  recently  tried  to  do,'"  Oxford  has 
unique  means  of  doing  to  much  greater  effect. 
The  hope  and  endeavour  of  all  those  who  be- 
lieve in  the  humanizing  mission  of  Art  is  that 
an  Art  Gallery — small  but  select,  and  simple 
though  complete  within  its  range — should  be 
established  in  every  town,  and  even  in  every 
school.  The  essential  purposes  of  such  collec- 
tions must  be  those  which  Mr.  Ruskin  had  in 
view  in  arranging  his  Drawing  School — to  ex- 
hibit what  is  best  in  each  department  of  Art,  to 

*  See  an  interesting  letter  from  Mr.  T.  C.  Horsfall, 
Treasurer  of  the  Mancliester  Art  Museum,  in  the  Times  of 
November  26th,  18S9. 


I20        SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIiN  S    WORK. 

illustrate  historical  development,  to  stimulate 
or  suggest  the  love  of  the  natural  objects  por- 
trayed, and  to  arrange  such  a  course  of  practical 
study  as  shall  incidentally  conduce  to  the  pre- 
vious purposes.  Of  collections  of  this  kind 
Oxford  might  well  set  the  standard.  In  each 
Universit}'  generation  there  arc  many  young 
men  at  Oxford  who  in  after  life  will  have  op- 
portunities not  only  for  the  patronage  of  Art  in 
the  sense  of  private  picture-buying,  but  for  the 
popularization  of  Art  by  bringing  it  within  the 
reach  of  the  people.  The  Ruskin  Drawing 
School,  efliciently  arranged  and  catalogued, 
might  become  a  valuable  storehouse  of  sugges- 
tions for  tiic  utilization  of  such  opportunities. 
Every  year,  too,  the  University  is  coming  into 
closer  contact  with  the  provinces,  and  the  num- 
ber of  earnest  men  and  women,  eager  for  the 
extension  of  University  teaching  in  all  kinds, 
who  visit  Oxford  on  the  occasion  of  the  "  Sum- 
mer Meetings,"  is  already  verj'  considerable. 
To  them,  too,  the  Ruskin  Drawing  School  is 
capable  of  being  made  a  source  of  very  useful 
inspiration.  Moreover,  if  the  collections  were 
once  properly  completed,  the  fame  of  them 
would  soon  be  noised  abroad,  and  any  committee 


THK    RUSKIN    DRAWING    SCHOOL.  131 

or  individual,  desirous  of  doing  something  to 
bring  Art  into  schools  or  villages,  would  turn 
to  Oxford  as  the  natural  quarter  for  guidance 
and  example.  This  reorganization  of  the 
Ruskin  Drawing  School  would  be  the  best  na- 
tional purpose  to  which  the  University  could 
turn  the  treasures  committed  to  its  charge.  It 
would  also  be  the  best  way  of  honouring  the 
giver  of  them.  Mr.  Ruskin's  connection  with 
the  School  is  already  commemorated — as  well 
as  in  its  name — by  a  marble  bust  of  himself, 
e.xecuted  by  Sir  J.  E.  Boehm.*  But  the  gene- 
rosity and  self-devotion  of  the  founder  of  the 
School  is  surely  deserving  also  of  that  more 
acceptable  memorial  which  consists  in  giving 
wider  fulfilment  of  his  purposes. 

*   See  frontispiece.     The  bust  bears  the  following  inscrip- 
tion ;  — 

"  Hanc 

JoHAKNis  Ruskin 

Hujusce  scholae  fundatoris 

Effigiem 

Amici  posuerunt 

iSSi." 


CHAPTER  III. 

MR.    RUSKIN     AND    THE    WORKING    MEn's    COLLKGK. 

Mr.  Ruskin's  services  to  National  Education 
have  by  no  means  been  confined  to  his  work  at 
Oxford.  Of  his  deep  interest  in  the  subject,  no 
reader  either  of  "  Modern  Painters  "  or  of  "  The 
Stones  of  Venice"  will  need  to  be  reminded.* 
Some  years  ago  Mr.  Ruskin  announced  it  as 
"  probable  that  a  volume  especially  devoted  to 
the  subject  of  Education  may  be  composed  of 
passages  gathered  out  of  the  entire  series  of 
my  works  "  (Preface  to  "  In  Montibus  Sanctis  "). 
This  probabijit}'  has  not  yet  become  an  accom- 
plished fact,  perhaps  because  of  the  super- 
abundance of  material  which  would  await  the 
composer  of  such  a  volume,  t 

•  Sec,  especially,  "  Modern  Painters,"  vol.  iv.,  Appendix  3, 
and  "Stones  of  Venice,"  Appendix  7. 

t  The  passages  in  "  Fors  Clavigcra"  "especially  devoted 
to  the  subject  of  Kducation  "  arc  enumerated  in  Mr. 
Faunthorpe's  excellent  index.  The  enumeration  occupies 
nearly  seven  pages. 


THE   WORKING    MEN's    COLLEGE.  123 

In  this  matter,  as  in  others,  Mr.  Ruskin  has 
practised  what  he  preached.     He  has  not  merely 
propounded  theories  on  the  subject  of  education, 
but  has  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  putting  them 
into  practice.       Readers  of  "  Fors  Clavigera  " 
and  of  some  others  of  his  later  books  will  recall 
many  allusions  to  educational  experiments  made 
by  Mr.  Ruskin  at  the  village  school  of  Coniston. 
What  in  his  old  age  he  does  at  Brantwood  he 
did   long  ago  in   his  prime  at  Denmark  Hill. 
The  new  Bibliography  shows  us  how  indefati- 
gable a  lecturer  he  has  been,  and  most  of  his 
minor   books   were    originally  composed   with 
direct    educational    purpose.       "  The    Political 
Economy  of  Art "  was  delivered  as  lectures  at 
Manchester.    "The  Elements  of  Drawing  "  was 
a  school  text-book  ;  and  true  to  the  principle 
explained  in  the  last  chapter,  that  the  teaching 
of  Art  is  the  teaching  of  everything,  the  text- 
book contained  instructions  on  what  books  to 
read,  as  well  as  on  what  lines  to  draw.     "  The 
Two  Paths,"  "  Sesame  and  Lilies,"  and  "  The 
Crown  of  Wild  Olive  "  were  all  written  as  lec- 
tures ;  whilst  "  The  Ethics  of  the  Dust "  was 
written  for  a  girls'  school.     But   the   chief  of 
Mr.  Ruskin's  earlier  educational  efforts  was  in 


124      SOME    ASPKCTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

connection  with  the  Working  Men's  College. 
Of  his  work  there,  thirty  years  ago,  and  of  his 
relations  with  F.  D.  Maurice,  the  founder  of  the 
College,  some  account  was  given  in  a  recent 
chapter  of  "  Preeterita"  (vol.  iii.,  cli.  i.).  The 
following  further  reminiscences  are  supplied  by 
a  friend  who  himself,  too,  has  done  yeoman's 
service  to  the  same  institution.  "  The  other 
da\',"  he  says,  "  I  was  in  the  room  of  an  old  Art 
pupil  of  Mr.  Ruskin's,  at  the  Working  Men's 
College.  Seeing  a  very  clever  sketch  of  a  dead 
bird,  in  carmine  lake,  on  the  wall,  1  admired  it, 
and  asked  whose  it  was.  '  John  Ruskin's,'  said 
my  friend.  '  You  know  he  used  to  come  up  to 
our  easels,  one  after  the  other,  and  tell  us  where 
we  were  right,  with  a  word  of  praise,  and  where 
wrong,  with  a  "  Look  here  !  this  is  the  way  to 
do  that."  Well,  that  bird  which  you've  just 
admired  Ruskin  did  one  night,  on  the  edge  of 
my  drawing-paper,  in  less  than  ten  minutes,  to 
give  me  a  hint.  He  dashed  the  sketch  in  as 
fast  as  brush  would  go,  and  the  breast,  which  is 
so  effective,  he  did  by  dabbing  the  inside  of  his 
thumb  on  tlic  wet  ]iaint.  1  wouldn't  part  with 
it  for  anytliing.  A  year  or  two  ago  he  came 
to  see  me,  and  I  showed  him  his  sketch,  and 


THE    WORKING    MEN's    COLLEGE.  125 

reminded  him  of  when  and  how  he  did  it.  Of 
course  he'd  forgotten  all  about  it.  But  he 
looked  at  it,  and  said,  smilingly,  "  Well,  it's  very 
well  done."  And  so  it  is.'  It  was  in  the 
drawing-room  of  the  Working  Men's  College," 
continues  the  same  writer,  "  that  Mr.  George 
Allen,  Mr.  Raskin's  publisher  and  engraver,  then 
a  working  carpenter  and  joiner,  was  trained ; 
and  no  loyaller  or  better  pupil  ever  lived.  There, 
too,  the  late  Mr.  Bunney,  whose  Venice  paint- 
ings are  so  well  known,  got  his  teaching  and 
the  support  of  Mr.  Ruskin.  Mr.  William  Ward, 
the  skilful  copyist  of  Turner,  was  another  pupil. 
It  is  pleasant  to  hear  Mr.  Ruskin's  old  students 
talk  of  him  ;  even  if  they  do  not  agree  with 
his  political  economy,  they  do  with  his  art." 
Another  devoted  "  Ruskinian,"  whose  disciple- 
ship  began  at  the  Working  Men's  College,  was 
the  late  Mr.  Henry  Swan,  the  first  Curator  of 
the  St.  George's  Museum. 

Mr.  Ruskin's  services  to  the  College  were  not 
confined  to  his  own  work  as  an  Art-teacher. 
It  was  at  his  prompting  *  that  D.  G.  Rossetti 
also    acted    for    some   years  (1857-60)   in   the 

*  See  Mr.  W.  M.  Rossetti's  life  of  his  brother,  p.  145, 
and  "  Praeterita,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  27. 


126      SOME   ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

same  capacity.  Amongst  those  encountered  by 
Rossetti,  at  the  College,  was  Mr.  Smetham,  who 
was  then  a  pupil  in  the  drawing-class.  Mr. 
Ruskin  has  spoken  two  or  three  times  in  terms 
of  disappointment  of  the  work  of  the  College, 
but  if  all  its  old  teachers  influenced  so  many 
capable  men,  and  left  such  pleasant  memories 
behind  them,  as  did  Mr.  Ruskin,  then  the 
leaven  of  Maurice's  institution  must  iiave  gone 
verj'  far. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

MR.  ruskin's  may  queens. 

Next  to  the  organization  of  his  Oxford  Schools, 
the  most  systematic  attempt  Mr.  Rusl<in  has 
made  to  put  his  educational  theories  into 
practice  has  been  in  connection  with  the  St. 
George's  Museum,  which  was  expressly  in- 
tended to  illustrate  his  view  of  the  educational 
function  of  the  ideal  museum.  Of  this  attempt 
we  shall  speak  in  the  next  chapter.  Mean- 
while we  may  pass  to  notice  another  educational 
scheme  of  Mr.  Ruskin's,  which  has  been  in  actual 
operation  for  some  years,  and  has  already  done 
much  useful  service.  Much  of  Mr.  Ruskin's 
work,  it  is  said,  is  only  in  the  air  ;  but  the 
scheme  which  we  have  now  to  describe  is  on 
the  solid  earth,  sweetening  with  its  presence  the 
hard  realities  of  a  college  in  connection  with 
the  State.  Some  ten  years  ago,  the  Rev.  J.  P. 
Faunthorpe,  the  President  of  the  Whitelands 


128       SOME   ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

Training  College  in  Chelsea,  chanced  to  fall 
into  correspondence  with  Mr.  Ruskin.  He  had 
noted  some  passage  in  "  Fors  Clavigera,"  be- 
tokening, he  tlioiight,  undue  despondency  at 
the  e.xisting  machinery  of  National  Education. 
Mr.  Ruskin  was  keenly  interested  in  what  Mr. 
Faunthorpe  had  to  tell  him,  and  was  constant 
in  counsel  and  encourageinent.  Would  Mr. 
Ruskin  present  the  College,  Mr.  Faunthorpe 
asked,  with  a  prize  ?  No  ;  Mr.  Ruskin  did  not 
approve  of  prizes,  at  least  not  if  there  were  any 
taint  of  competition  about  them  ;  but  he  would 
be  proud  to  present  the  College  with  a  set  of 
his  works.  The  offerwas  warmly  accepted  ;  and 
Mr.  Ruskin,  ever  avaricious  of  giving,  asked  to 
be  allowed  to  present  the  College  with  the  means 
for  organizing  a  "May  Queen"  Festival.  In 
each  year  he  would  present  the  queen  with  a 
gold  cross  for  herself,  and  with  some  forty 
bound  volumes,  more  or  less,  of  his  books  for 
her  to  award  to  her  fellows  at  her  will  and 
pleasure.  Mr.  Faunthorpe  cheerfully  undertook 
the  organization  of  the  scheme,  which  was  first 
carried  out  in  i88i,and  has  since  been  con- 
tinued year  by  year.  From  time  to  time  there 
have   been    some    slight    modifications    in    the 


THE    MAY    queen's   GOLD    CKOSS    (iSSS). 
{Desigyied  by  Arthur  Sez'tnt.) 


MR.    RUSKINS    MAY   QUEENS.  129 

ceremonial.  The  queen's  gown,  for  one  thing, 
has  been  altered  two  or  three  times.  Miss  Kate 
Greenaway  designed  one,  but  Mr.  Ruskin  did 
not  like  it ;  it  was  a  mere  robe,  he  said,  and 
made  its  wearer  look  like  "  Madge  Wildfire." 
The  new  gown  has  been  designed  by  Mrs. 
Faunthorpe,  and  when  Mr.  Ruskin  sees  it,  will, 
let  us  hope,  meet  with  greater  acceptance.  The 
cross,  too,  is  of  different  workmanship  each 
year,  being  designed  sometimes  by  Mr.  Burne- 
Jones,  sometimes  by  Mr.  Arthur  Severn,  some- 
times by  other  artists.  One  year  the  cross  was 
composed  out  of  a  wild  rose,  and  Mr.  Ruskin 
complained  because  there  was  no  thorn,  "  as  if 
a  true  queen's  crown  could  ever  be  without  its 
thorn."  But  in  all  essentials  the  May  Queen 
Festival  at  Whitelands  has  been  the  same  from 
year  to  year ;  and  the  following  account  of 
the  ceremony  in  1885,  written  at  the  time,  may 
serve  as  well  as  another  to  show  the  spirit  and 
the  scope  of  this  characteristic  scheme,  designed 
by  the  "  unpractical  "  Mr.  Ruskin  : — 

"  The  celebration  of  May  Day  is  one  of  tlie  glories 
which  have  pretty  well  passed  away  from  the  earth  by 
this  time.  The  world  is  too  much  with  us ;  and  as  for 
sports   on  the    merry  green,  we  are  too  old  for  that 

9 


130       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

sort  of  thing.  Indeed,  did  not  Piers  say  long  ago,  in 
'  The  Shepherd's  Calendar  '— 

'  For  younkers,  Palinoilc,  such  follies  fitte, 
But  we  tway  bene  well  of  ekler  witt '  ? 

And  according  to  an  authority  which  is  always  worth 
consulting  as  a  sort  of  '  prosometer,'  as  a  test  of  how 
far  the  power  of  prosaic  utterance  can  go,  '  the  only 
people  now  interested  in  the  maintenance  of  May  sports 
are  the  chimney-sweepers ;  for  as  the  commencement 
of  summer  deprives  them  in  a  considerable  degree 
of  their  business  occupation,  they  naturally  seek  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  customary  liberality  of  festive 
meetings.' 

"But  the  poetry  of  May  Day  still  lingers  here  and 
there,  even  in  London.  There  is  Whitelands  College,  at 
Chelsea,  for  instance,  which  held  high  festival  yester- 
day, and  presented  a  spectacle  such  as  can  only  be  seen 
else  in  Spenser's  poems  or  Miss  Greenaway's  drawings. 
Whitelands  is  a  Training  College  for  Girls,  and  the 
'  old  girls,'  whose  work  now  lies  in  countrj-  parishes, 
do  not  forget  the  First  of  May,  but  send  up  large 
hampers  of  spring  flowers  for  decorating  the  '  dear  old 
school.'  You  pass  in  tlirough  the  iron  gate  in  the 
King's  Road,  and  find  yourself  in  such  a  company  of 
sweet  flowers  as  you  will  not  sec  the  like  of  anj-where 
else  in  the  town.  Chapel  and  hall  are  alike  bedecked, 
and  '  themselves  the  sweetest  flowers  among  them  all ' 
are  the  young  girls,  dressed  all  of  them  in  their  smartest 
gowns  (there  were  no  bishops  present,  in  lawn  sleeves, 
to  detect  the  sinful  satin  shoes),  and  each  wearing 
bunches  and  carrying  baskets  of  flowers.  Very  pretty 
it  is  to  sec  the  fresh  young  faces  of  the  girls,  a  lumdred 


MR.    RUSKIN  S    MAY    QUEENS.  I3I 

and  fifty,  perhaps,  or  moro,  gathered  thii.s  together  in 
the  chapel,  '  not  taken  out  of  the  world  in  monastic 
sorrow,  but  kept  from  its  evil  in  shepherded  peace.' 
They  are  possessed  now  with  common  interests  and 
common  hopes,  and  the  sweet  voice  tliat  sings,  '  Oh,  rest 
in  the  Lord'  is  speaking  for  them  all.  But  there  are 
'  more  variations  in  women's  life  than  any  one  would 
imagine  from  the  sameness  of  women's  coiffure  ;  '  and 
as  one's  eye  lights  on  the  saints  in  the  painted  windows 
one  turns  to  wonder  which  may  be  a  St.  Theresa  in 
the  congregation  below. 

"  But  it  is  only  after  the  chapel  service  is  over  that  the 
Whitelands  peculiar  festival  begins.  It  is  a  festival, 
held  this  year  for  the  fifth  time,  which  was  instituted 
and  is  maintained  by  Mr.  Ruskin,  and  which  realizes 
in  very  quaint  and  pretty  fashion  many  of  his  '  romantic 
impossibilities '  about  education.  When  the  girls  are 
assembled  in  the  hall  they  are  bidden  to  proceed  at 
once  to  the  business  of  the  day — the  election  of  one 
among  them  to  be  May  Queen.  There  is  much  sweet 
excitement,  delightful  to  behold,  to  know  on  whom  the 
choice  will  fall,  for  the  voting  is  secret  (is  that,  by  the 
way,  quite  Ruskinian  ?) ;  and  it  is  only  when  May  Day 
comes  round  that  the  teachers  discover  who  the  school 
favourite  is.  This  year  it  is  a  beautiful  brunette,  but 
she  is  chosen  not  for  her  beauty  nor  for  learning,  but, 
like  the  Rosiere  of  Nanterre,  simply  because  in  the 
'  fierce  white  light '  of  her  schoolfellows  she  has  done 
her  duty  and  made  herself  beloved.  The  election  is 
ratified  by  much  clapping  of  hands,  and  the  Queen  then 
retires  to  be  robed  and  crowned.  Among  her  hand- 
maidens is  last  year's  Queen,  the  '  Dowager,'  now 
crowned  only  with  forget-me-nots.  The  girls  form  in 
procession,  and  when  the  Queen  has  taken  her  place  on 


132       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

the  throne,  pass,  two  and  two,  in  front  of  her,  and  make 
their  obeisance.  Mr.  Ruskin  was  not  present  yester- 
day himself,  and  the  gold  cross  which  he  gives  each 
year  to  the  May  Queen  was  presented  for  him  by  Mrs. 
Bishop.  But  a  true  queen  takes  more  pleasure  in 
aiving  than  receivin",  and  it  is  her  turn  next  to  dis- 


rili:    MAY    QUEENS    PROCESSION. 
{From   it    liraxi'ififf   by    luiith    Capficr.) 


tribute  thirty-four  volumes  of  Mr.  Raskin's  works,  given 
by  the  author,  bound  in  sumptuous  purple  calf,  to  those 
of  her  subjects  whom  she  chooses.  There  is  no  com- 
petition about  these  prizes.  One  girl  receives  a  prize 
'  because  she  is  faithful  to  her  friends,'  another  '  be- 
cause she   is   fond  of  music,'  another  '  for   In-r  sunny 


MR.     RUSKIN  S    MAY    OUEENS.  133 

temper,'  another  just  'because  the  May  Queen  Ukes 
her.'  It  was  particularly  pretty  to  notice  the  smile  of 
recognition  that  the  Queen — pale  and  nervous  else — 
would  give  as  some  particular  friend  came  up  to  kiss 
hands  on  receiving  a  prize  ;  but,  indeed,  in  every  way 
the  scene  was  as  pretty  as  could  be,  as  delicately 
worked  out  and  as  full  of  suggestion  as  a  sentence  in 
one  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  books  themselves. 

"  Mr.  Ruskin's  festival  gives,  it  is  clear,  a  great  deal  of 
innocent  pleasure,  and  certainly  they  repay  him  at 
Whitelands  College  with  their  best.  His  motto,  '  To- 
day,' was  placed  on  their  walls  ;  they  prayed  for  him 
in  their  chapel  service  ;  and  in  the  address  which  Mr. 
Faunthorpe,  the  Principal,  delivered  to  the  girls  yester- 
day, they  were  taught  to  regard  him  as  one  of  the  major 
prophets,  as  doing  for  this  age  what  Plato,  Aristotle, 
and  Bacon  have  done  for  others.  A  hundred  years 
hence,  Mr.  Faunthorpe  told  them,  the  nineteenth  century 
will  be  remembered  only  or  chiefly  because  Ruskiii 
lived  and  wrote  in  it — which  is  giving  him  a  victory 
with  a  vengeance  over  his  enemies  the  steam-engines 
and'  the  railways.  However  that  may  be,  the  girls  who 
go  out  from  Whitelands  College  to  teach  throughout 
the  country  could  take  no  better  friends  with  them  than 
Mr.  Ruskin's  books.  Those  who  know  most  of  the 
deficiencies  of  our  educational  curriculum  will  appre- 
ciate best  the  value  to  young  teachers  of  so  spiritual 
and  stimulating  an  influence."  * 

The  influence  of  the  May  Day  Festival  at 
Whitelands    soon    made    itself   felt   elsewhere. 

*  Pall  Mat!  Gazette,  May  2nd,  18S5. 


134       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

The  Ma}'  Queens  and  other  pupils  who  go  out 
from  Chelsea  to  be  teachers  in  National  schools 
carry  with  them  the  traditions  of  the  place,  and 
become  themselves  centres  of  similar  sweetness 
and  light.  Not  a  year  passes,  Mr.  Faunthorpe 
tells  me,  without  his  hearing  of  some  new  May 
Day  Festival,  and  in  many  a  country  village 
wealthy  friends  have  been  found  to  follow 
Mr.  Ruskin's  generous  e.xaniple.  But  the  most 
interesting  of  these  derivative  festivals  is  in 
Ireland,  where  Mr.  Ruskin  himself  again  plays 
the  earthly  providence.  One  of  the  Whitelands 
governesses.  Miss  Martin,  was  appointed  a  few 
years  ago  to  be  Head  Mistress  of  the  High 
School  for  Girls  in  Cork,  and  Mr.  Ruskin  at 
once  acceded  to  her  request  to  establish  a  simi- 
lar festival  there.  The  Queen  in  this  case — for 
reasons  which  readers  of  "Prasterita"  will  guess 
— is  a  Rose  Queen,  instead  of  a  Queen  of  the 
May  ;  but  Mr.  Ruskin  presents  her  in  each  year 
with  a  gold  cross  and  with  a  series  of  his  works 
for  presentation  to  her  chosen  Maids  of  Honour, 
as  at  Whitelands.*  Mr.  Ruskin  has  also 
presented    Miss    Martin's    school  with    a    case 

*  A  full  and  interesting  account  of  Uie  festival  appcaicel 
in  the  Cork  Coiisliliilwii,  May  2nd,  iSSS. 


MR.    RUSKIN  S    MAY    QUEENS.  1 35 

of  rare  and  costly  minerals,  stones,  and  gems. 
The  case  includes  specimens  of  Mocha  stone, 
agate,  jasper,  flint,  diamonds,  gold,  silver,  mica, 
quartz,  amethysts,  beryls,  and  other  precious 
stones.  Some  of  the  specimens  are  exceed- 
ingly rare  and  exquisitely  beautiful.  There 
are  five  uncut  BraziUan  diamonds,  which  are 
probably  worth  _^  40,  showing  variations  of  colour 
— white,  pale  yellow,  green,  and  steel  grey  ;  a 
really  fine  nugget  of  gold  in  quartz,  weighing 
about  two  ounces,  and  a  tress  of  native  silver 
with  a  trace  of  copper  and  some  other  metal. 
There  are  several  specimens  of  amethysts  and 
quartz,  from  Brazil,  and  three  from  the  Ballin- 
temple  "diamond"  quarry,  Blackrock.  Mr. 
Ruskin  has,  in  addition,  presented  the  school 
with  eighteen  of  his  original  drawings,  made 
for  the  illustration  of  "The  Stones  of  Venice," 
and  four  of  the  originals  of  the  plates  in  the 
chapters  on  Vegetation  in  "Modern  Painters." 
He  has  also  given  an  illuminated  cover  for  an 
ancient  Persian  missal.  The  design  is  in  gold 
and  colours,  of  conventional  flower  and  leaf 
work.  A  further  gift  was  a  hand-painted  orna- 
ment, consisting  of  two  panels  from  the  "  Book 
of    Kells."     Accompanying    Mr.   Ruskin's  gift 


136      SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

was  the  following  description  of  twelve  of  the 
specimens  : — 

"  (l)  The  best  external  beginning  of  Mocha  stone  I 
ever  saw,  but  they  may,  perhaps,  be  common  at  this 
localitj'.     You  can  find  out  at  leisure. 

"(2)  Agate,  interrupted  by  quartz  veins,  which  1  have 
described  at  greater  length  somewhere.  It  cannot  be 
too  carefully  looked  at  with  pocket  lens,  and  may 
some  day  be  a  classical  stone. 

"  (3)  Jasper  with  green  coating.  I  believe  Sctittish, 
of  q\iite  infinite  interest,  and  infinitely  multiplied  into 
infinite  interest.  By  the  time  the  youngest  pupil  in  tlic 
school  is  ninety  she  may  know  something  about  it. 

"(4)  Banded  agate  and  jasper.  Scotch;  beat  it  in 
Ireland  if  you  can. 

"(5)  Jasper  passing  into  lake  agate,  an  articular 
agate.  Scotch  also ;  but  perhaps  you  may  beat  it  at 
the  Giant's  Causeway. 

"  (6)  Undulating  jasper.  I  never  thought  to  part 
with  it,  but  it  will  be  better  at  Cork, 

"(7)  Common  black-handed  flint.     A  rolled  pebble. 

"(8)  Uncommon  handed  flint,  price  is.  bit.;  but  I 
don't  think  you  will  get  the  like  of  it  for  2.J.  dd, 

"(9)  Globuhe  mica,  the  American  fashion;  but  it 
will  never  make  such  good  mountain  as  the  uld- 
fashioned  mica. 

"  ( 10)  Straight  amianthus  iu  quartz.  Pretty,  but  the 
value  of  the  specimen  is  in  the  three  unpolished  plains, 
with  endlessly  comple.\  and  with  extremely  minute 
cavities,  looking  like  spots. 

"(II)  Five  stories  of  fairy  ami'thyst  mountain.  Kx- 
tremilv  mn-  and  bc.iutiful. 


MR.    RUSKIN's    may    QUEENS.  13/ 

"(12)  The  last  specimen  1  have  of  Sidmoutli  rock 
chert,  becoming  jasper  by  infusion  of  colour,  reds  and 
j-ellow  oxides  of  iron.    Ever>-\vhere  a  beautiful  enigma." 

But    Mr.   Ruskin's    interest    in    Whitelands 
College,  and  influence  upon  the  successive  gene- 
rations of  its  scholars,  are  not  confined  to  the 
May  Day  Festival.      He  has  presented  the  in- 
stitution with  many  valuable  pictures,  books, 
minerals,  and  manuscripts,  all  of  which  are  care- 
fully arranged  for  use  by  the  girls,  and  for  some 
of  which  Mr.  Ruskin  himself  has  written  de- 
scriptive   notes.       The    presence    of  all   these 
beautiful  things  in  the  different  rooms  of  the 
College  lends  a  very  attractive  appearance  to 
the    place.       The  walls   of  the   Refectory  are 
covered  with  interesting  pictures  and  prints, 
including  several  copies  from  Carpaccio,  a  few 
drawings  by  Prout,  some  plates  from  the  "  Liber 
Studiorum,"  and  a  series  of  coloured  prints  from 
Bettoni's  "  Birds  of  Lombardy,"  all  presented  by 
Mr.  Ruskin.     In  the  Governesses'  Room  there 
are  further  gifts  of  the  same  kind  ;  to  the  Sick 
Room  Mr.  Ruskin  has  presented  a  little  collec- 
tion of  books  of  his  own  choosing ;  whilst  the 
"  Ruskin  Library  "  comprises  not  only  many  of 
Mr.  Ruskin's  own  books,  but  a  collection  of  other 


138       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

books  bought  for  the  College  by  him.  But  the 
chief  Ruskin  treasures  are  in  the  room  of  the 
Principal,  who  every  Sunday  evening  during 
term  time  calls  in  some  of  the  girls  to  examine 
the  books  and  pictures  with  him.  Amongst 
the  books  is  a  very  fine  copy  of  Bishop  Gawin 
Douglas's  "  English  Virgil" — 

"Imprinted  at  London  in  1553," 

to  which  Mr.  Ruskin  has  added,  in  printing  of 
his  own  hand — 

"And  given 

To  the  College  for  training  of  English  maids 

at  Chelsea  on  Thames, 

I'V 

John  Ruskin, 

On  the  Christmas  Day  of  1880." 

Another  very  interesting  book  is  an  Arabic 
Koran,  in  silken  satchel  with  a  gold  cord,  every 
page  being  profusely  ornamented  inflowerscrolls 
and  gold.  Three  large  folio  volumes,  contain- 
ing water-colour  copies  made  for  Mr.  Ruskin 
by  hand  from  Rinio's  "Erbario,"  show  the  lavish 
generosity  with  wJiich  he  lias  enriched  the 
College.  The  Ruskin  Cabinet,  containing  si.\ty 
pictures — illustrative  of  the   work   nf  Riciiter, 


MR.    RUSKIN  S    MAY    QUEENS.  139 

Diirer,  and  Turner — framed  and  mounted  in  the 
same  way  as  the  examples  in  the  Ruskin  Draw- 
ing School,  is  of  great  interest  and  value.      Mr. 
Ruskin  wrote  some  notes  for  this  cabinet,  which 
have  been   published   in   the  Ruskin    Reading 
Guild  Journal  for    1889.      The  College,   it  is 
pleasant  to  know,  has  met  Mr.  Ruskin's  gene- 
rosity in   a  corresponding  spirit.     Everything 
that  he  has  given  is  well  cared  for,  and  made 
available  for  every-day  use  and  influence.   Every- 
where, too,  throughout  the  College,  the  educa- 
tional value  of  beautiful  things  is    recognized 
and  enforced,  and  not  one  class-room  or  dormi- 
tory is  without  its  exemplary  picture.     White- 
lands  is  a  College  where  the  teachers  of  to- 
morrow are  themselves  taught,  and  the  influence 
for  good  which  Mr.  Ruskin's  work  there  has  set 
on  foot  throughout  the  country  must  be  very 
great.       The    Oxford    Drawing    School   is   the 
practical  realization   of  Mr.  Ruskin's  ideal  for 
Schools  of  Art.     Whitelands  College  shows  in 
practice  the  ideal  of  the  movement  towards  pro- 
viding "  Art  for  Schools."  * 

*  The  address  of  the  "  Art  for  Schools  Association  "  (of 
which  Mr.  Ruskin  is  the  President,  and  to  which  his  writ- 
ings gave  the  initial  impetus)  is  29,  Queen  Square,  W.C. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE  ST.  George's  guild. 

(  With  some  Account  of  the  "  Euskhi  Museum  "  at 
Sheffield.) 

Mr.  Ruskin's  experiments  as  a  Social  Reformer 
were,  as  we  have  seen  (p.  27),  a  necessary  con- 
sequence of  his  Principles  of  Art.  "No  great 
arts  are  practicable,"  he  saj's,  "  by  any  people, 
unless  they  are  living  contented  lives,  in  pure 
air,  out  of  the  way  of  unsightly  objects,  and 
emancipated  from  unnecessary  mechanical  occu- 
pation. It  is  simply  one  part  of  the  practical 
work  I  have  to  do  in  Art  teaching  to  bring, 
somewhere,  such  conditions  into  existence,  and 
to  show  the  working  of  them  "  ("  Fors  Clavi- 
gera,"  1871,  ix.,  p.  20).  It  was  the  determina- 
tion to  carry  out  this  duty  that  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  St.  George's  Guild — the  btst- 
known  and  most-discussed  of  all  Mr.  Ruskin's 
practical    works.     The    ideas    underlying    the 


THE    ST.    GEORGES    GUILD.  I4I 

Guild  were,  indeed,  no  new  development  in  his 
mind.  For  many  years  past  he  had  been  ex- 
horting "  the  gentlemen  of  England  "  to  become, 
as  he  was  fond  of  expressing  it,  "  soldiers  of 
the  ploughshare."  But  few  or  none  had  listened 
to  his  exhortations.  "  However,  this,"  he  said, 
"  is  partly  my  own  fault  for  not  saying  more 
clearly  what  I  want,  and  for  expecting  people 
to  be  moved  by  writing,  instead  of  by  personal 
effort.  The  more  I  see  of  writing,  the  less  I 
care  for  it ;  one  may  do  more  with  a  man  by 
getting  ten  words  spoken  to  him  face  to  face 
than  by  the  black-lettering  of  a  whole  life's 
thought "("  Fors,"  1872,  xvii.,  p.  5).  Giving 
up,  then,  his  reliance  on  mere  writing,  he  set 
himself  first  to  talking  face  to  face  with  such  as 
had  ears  to  hear — in  "  Fors  Clavigera  " — and 
secondly  to  practising  what  he  preached. 

It  was  in  May,  1871,  that  the  scheme  was  first 
made  public.  In  the  "  Fors  "  for  that  month 
Mr.  Ruskin  called  on  any  landlords  to  come  and 
help  him  "who  would  like  better  to  be  served 
by  men  than  by  iron  devils,"  and  any  tenants  and 
any  workmen  who  could  vow  to  work  and  live 
faithfully  for  the  sake  of  the  joy  of  their  homes. 
Any  such  as  joined  St.  George's  standard  were 


142       SOME    ASPECTS    OK    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

to  do  as  Mr.  Ruskin  undertook  henceforth  to 
do,  and  give  the  tenth  of  what  the}-  had  and 
what  they  earned,  not  to  emigrate  with,  but  to 
Stay  in  England  with,  and  make  a  Happy 
England  of  her  once  more.  And  this  was  how 
the  happy  days  that  are  no  more  were  to  be 
restored : — 

"  \Vc  will  try,"  said  Mr.  Ruskin,  "  to  make  some 
small  piece  of  English  ground  beautiful,  peaceful,  and 
fruitful.  We  will  have  no  steam-engines  upon  it,  and 
no  railroads ;  we  will  have  no  untended  and  unthought- 
of  creatures  on  it;  none  wretched,  but  the  sick;  none 
idle,  but  the  dead.  We  will  have  no  liberty  upon  it, 
but  instant  obedience  to  known  law  and  appointed 
persons;  no  equality  upon  it,  but  recognition  of  every 
betterness  that  we  can  find,  and  reprobation  of  every 
worseness.  When  wc  want  to  go  anywhere  we  will 
go  there  quietly  and  safely,  not  at  forty  miles  an  hour, 
at  the  risk  of  our  lives ;  when  wc  want  to  carr}'  any- 
thing anywhere  we  will  carry  it  either  on  the  backs  of 
beasts  or  on  our  own,  or  in  carts  or  boats ;  we  will  have 
plenty  of  flowers  and  vegetables  in  our  gardens,  plenty  of 
corn  and  grass  in  our  fields — and  few  bricks.  We  will 
have  some  music  and  poetry ;  the  children  shall  learn 
to  dance  in  it  and  sing  in  it — perhaps  some  of  the  old 
people,  in  time,  may  also.  We  will  have  some  art, 
moreover ;  we  will  at  least  try  if,  like  the  Greeks,  we 
can't  make  some  pots.  The  Greeks  used  to  paint  pic- 
tures of  gods  on  their  pots  ;  we  probably  cannot  do  as 
much,  but  we  may  put  some  pictures  of  insects  on 
them,  and   reptiles — butterflies  and   frogs,  if  nothing 


THE    ST.    GEORGES    GUILD.  I43 

better.  There  was  an  excellent  old  potter  in  France 
who  nsed  to  put  frogs  and  vipers  into  his  dishes,  to 
the  admiration  of  mankind  ;  we  can  surely  put  some- 
thing nicer  than  that.  Little  by  little,  some  higher  art 
and  imagination  may  manifest  themselves  among  us, 
and  feeble  rays  of  science  may  dawn  for  us.  Botany, 
though  too  dull  to  dispute  the  existence  of  flowers  ;  and 
history,  though  too  simple  to  question  the  nativity  of 
men ;  nay,  even  perhaps  an  uncalculating  and  un- 
covetous  wisdom,  as  of  rude  Magi,  presenting,  at  such 
nativity,  gifts  of  gold  and  frankincense." 

In  taking  stock  of  what  Mr.  Ruskin  has  ac- 
tually done  towards  realizing  this  Utopia  it  is- 
important  to  remember  the  limitations  which 
he  expressly  made  to  his  enterprise.  He  had 
no  thought  of  setting  himself  up  as  leader  in 
any  large  movement.  He  did  not  even  devote 
all  his  time  to  the  work.  On  the  contrary,  he 
went  into  it  during  the  very  years  when,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  he  was  busily  engaged  at 
Oxford.  His  socialistic  work  was,  to  use  a 
current  piece  of  political  slang,  a  payment  of 
"ransom."  He  wanted  to  ease  his  conscience, 
and  to  feel  free  once  more  to  devote  himself 
single-hearted  to  the  arts  and  sciences.  His 
object  was  to  quit  himself  of  responsibility  by 
showing  what  each  man  might  do.  "  My  march- 
ing days,"  he  said,  "  may  perhaps  soon  be  over,. 


144       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

and  the  best  that  I  can  make  of  myself  be  a 
faithful  sign-post.  But  what  I  am,  or  what  I 
fail  to  be,  is  of  no  moment  to  the  cause.  The 
two  facts  which  I  have  to  teach,  or  sign,  though 
alone,  as  it  seems,  at  present,  in  the  signature, 
that  food  can  only  be  got  out  of  the  ground,  and 
happiness  only  out  of  honesty,  are  not  alto- 
gether dependent  on  any  one's  championship, 
for  recognition  among  mankind "  ("  Fors," 
1873,  XXX.,  p.  19). 

"  That  food  can  only  be  got  out  of  the  ground, 
and  happiness  out  of  honesty."  These  were 
the  first  two  facts  which  the  Guild  of  St.  George 
w^as  established  to  demonstrate  ;  and  the  third 
was  the  fact  (to  cite  once  more  Prince  Leopold's 
felicitous  words)  that  "the  highest  wisdom  and 
the  highest  treasure  need  not  be  costly  or  ex- 
clusive" (see  p.  44, «.).  The  enforcement  of  these 
three  facts  leads  us,  it  will  be  seen,  to  throe  cor- 
responding experiments,  of  (i)  an  agricultural, 
(2)  an  industrial,  and  (3)  an  artistic  character, 
respective!}'.  The  first  and  the  second  cannot, 
indeed,  be  very  trenchantly  distinguished  ;  but 
it  will  be  more  convenient  to  treat  separately 
the  distinctively  industrial  part  of"  St. George's" 
scheme  :  that  will  form  the  subject  of  the  next 


THE  ST.  George's  guild  and  museum.     145 

chapter.  In  the  present  chapter  we  must  no- 
tice briefly  Mr.  Ruskin's  experiments  under  the 
other  two  heads. 

The    agricultural    experiments    of    the    St. 
George's  Guild  have  not  been  a  brilliant  suc- 
cess.    Perhaps  they  have  not  been  given  a  fair 
chance.     Perhaps  the  times  and  seasons  have 
been  unpropitious.     But  whatever  explanations 
or  excuses  there  may  be,  the  fact  remains  that 
the    St.    George's    farms    have   produced  very 
little  except  a  plentiful  crop  of  disappointments. 
Mr.  Ruskin  has  drawn  many  charming  pictures, 
such  as  the  one  given  above,  of  his  ideal  settle- 
ments ;  but  the  realities  have  for  the  most  part 
been  either  grim  or  grotesque,  or  (more  often) 
both.      The   Guild    is,    however,  the  owner  of 
several  acres  of  land  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  and  there  is  some  reason  to  hope  that 
past  failures  will  lead  to  future  successes.     If 
there  are  any  disciples  of  Count  Tolstoi  who, 
having  decided  "what  to  do,"  are  casting  about 
for  plots   of  ground  on  which  to  do  it,   they 
should  communicate  with  the  Trustees  of  St. 
George's  Guild.* 

*  Particulars  of  some  of  the   agricultural   experiments 
referred  to  above  will  be  found  in  many  places  throughout 

10 


146       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

Meanwhile  it  is  pleasant  to  turn  to  a  branch 
of  St.  George's  work  which,  within  its  appointed 
range,  has  been  completely  successful  already, 
and  which  is  now  destined  to  be  more  widely 
useful.  This  is  the  St.  George's  JVIuseum, 
hitherto  housed  in  a  cottage  at  Walkley,  situ- 
ated upon  a  hill  two  miles  out  of  Sheffield.  It 
was  intended  to  be  not  a  show  place,  but  rather 
a  model  of  the  Museum  which  might  profitably 
and  practically  be  established  in  every  town, 
and  the  lowly  aspect  of  the  building  at  Walkley 
is  in  keeping  with  the  modest  object  of  the  in- 
stitution. Mr.  Ruskin  has  himself  explained 
why  he  selected  Sheflleld  to  be  the  site  of  his 
experiment  : — 

"Tin.'  aiiswiT  in  a  sim(jlu  uiie — Tliat  I  acknowledge 
iron-work  as  an  art  necessary  and  useful  to  man,  and 
English  work  in  iron  as  masterful  of  its  kind.  .  .  . 
Therefore  it  is  fitting  that  of  the  schools  (of  St.  George) 
for  the  workmen  and  labourers  of  England,  the  first 
should  be  placed  at  Slieffield.  Besides  tliis  merely 
systematic  and  poetical  fitness,  there  is  tlic  further 
practical  reason  for  our  first  action  being  among  tliis 

"Fors.''  The  "Master's  Reports"  contain  fiuthcr  informa- 
tion. Mr.  Ruskin's  "General  Statemenl,  Explaining  the 
Nature  and  Purposes  of  St.  George's  Guild,"  may  be  ob- 
tained from  Mr.  George  Allen  (6t/.). 


THE    ST.    GEORGES    GUILD    AND    MUSEUM.        I4.J 

order  of  craftsmen  in  England,  that  in  cutler's  iron-work 
we  have  (in  the  town  of  Sheffield)  at  this  actual  epoch 
of  our  history  the  best  of  its  kind  done  by  English  hands, 
unsurpassable,  I  presume,  when  the  workman  chooses 
to  do  all  he  knows,  by  that  of  any  living  nation  ;  not 
for  this  reason  only,  however,  but  because  Sheffield  is 
in  Yorkshire,  and  Yorkshire  is  yet  in  the  main  temper 
of  its  inhabitants  Old  English,  and  capable,  therefore, 
yet  of  the  ideas  of  honesty  and  piety  by  which  Old 
England  lived ;  finally,  because  Sheffield  is  within  easy 
reach  of  beautiful  natural  scenery,  and  the  best  art  of 
English  hands,  at  Lincoln,  York,  Durham,  Selby,  Foun- 
tains, Bolton,  and  Furness.  For  these  great  primary 
reasons,  including  many  others,  I  have  placed  our  first 
Museum  there,  in  good  hope  also  that  other  towns,  far 
and  near,  when  they  see  how  easily  such  a  thing  can 
be  done,  will  have  their  museums  of  the  same  kind,  as 
no  less  useful  to  them  than  their  churches,  gasometers, 
or  circulating  libraries." 

Sheffield,  it  may  be  added,  has  justified  Mr. 
Ruskin's  choice  by  meeting  his  generosity  in 
an  admirably  practical  fashion,  as  we  shall  pre- 
sently see. 

As  for  the  contents  of  the  Museum  in  general, 
the  following  description  is  given  in  the  Cata- 
logue prepared  by  Mr.  Howard  Swan,  son  of 
the  late  Curator  : — 

"The  Museum  contains  specimens,  copies,  casts,  etc., 
selected  by  John  Ruskin,  of  the  truly  greatest  of  human 
art  of  the  times   of  the  highest  development  in  each 


148         SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

brancli,  and  from  tliose  parts  of  the  world  where  they 
best  flourished,  so  arranged  and  explained  as  to  be — 
first,  a  readily  accessible  repository  of  specimens  of 
the  finest  work  hitherto  done,  whether  in  painting, 
illumination,  engraving,  drawing,  or  sculpture,  etc.,  and 
of  the  finest  natural  productions,  in  the  shape  of  crj'stal- 
ized  gems  and  precious  stones  ;  it  will  have  nothing  in 
it  but  what  deserves  respect  in  art  or  admiration  in 
nature ;  secondly,  a  guide  to  the  rise  and  development 
of  nations,  as  evidenced  in  their  art ;  thirdly,  a  school 
of  drawing  and  painting,  with  examples  and  instruc- 
tions, after  the  manner  of  the  old  Tuscan  masters,  as 
set  forth  in  Mr.  Ruskin's  '  The  Laws  of  Fesole,'  in 
which  things  interesting  in  natural  liistory  or  in  legend 
are  utilized  as  drawing  copies,  while  a  true  system 
of  training  the  eye  and  hand  is  taught." 

The  reader  who  wishes  for  more  detailed  in- 
formation about  the  contents  will  find  all  he 
wants  in  the  Catalogue  just  cited.*  For  the 
purposes  of  a  desultory  look  round,  \vc  cannot 
do  better  than  put  ourselves  in  Mr.  Ruskin's 
hands.  In  1879  the  late  Prince  Leopold  spent 
some  time  at  the  Museum,  and  Mr.  Ruskin 
pointed  out  to  him  the  chief  objects  of  interest. 
From  the  account  of  this  visit  published  in  the 
Sheffield  Independent  I  borrow  the  following 
particulars.     Mr.   Ruskin    first   drew  attention 

*  It  may  bo  obt.iinccl  of  Mr.  GcorRC  Allen,  price  i.<. 


55 


THE    ST.    GEORGES    GUILD    AND    MUSEUM.        I49 

to  Verocchio's  "  Madonna  and  Child,"  the  only 
specimen  of  that  master  in  this  country,*  and 
"given  to  me,"  added  Mr.  Ruskin,  "in  Venice 
by  a  gracious  fortune,  to  show  to  the  people  of 
Sheffield,"  to  whom,  he  explained,  it  was  espe- 
cially appropriate,  since,  besides  being  an  un- 
rivalled painter,  Verocchio  was  also  a  great 
worker  in  iron.  Mr.  Ruskin  dwelt  with  enthu- 
siasm on  the  teachings  and  technical  merits  of 
this  picture^ — on  its  lessons  of  the  reverence 
that  is  due  to  woman,  and  the  reverence  that 
all  Christianity,  through  that,  its  purest  element, 
shows  (in  the  kneeling  Virgin)  to  Christ.  That 
picture,  he  said,  was  an  answer  to  the  inquiry 
often  addressed  to  him,  "  What  do  you  want  to 
teach  us  about  Art  ?  "  It  was  perfect  in  all 
ways — in  drawing,  in  colouring ;  on  every  part 
the  artist  had  worked  with  the  utmost  toil  man 
could  give.  He  drew  especial  attention  to  the 
beauty  and  detail  of  the  Virgin's  girdle  of  em- 
bossed gold.     A  copy,  by  Mr.  Ruskin,  of  Car- 


*  I  do  not  know  the  genealogy  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  Verocchio. 
But  in  the  National  Gallery  there  are  two  pictures  (296 
and  7^0  ascribed  either  to  Verocchio  or  to  PoUajuolo.  See 
my  "Popular  Handbook  to  the  National  Gallery"  (Mac- 
millan),  under  296  (in  Room  I.). 


150       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

paccio's  "St.  Ursula"  next  attracted  attention. 
The  power  of  that  Museum  would,  Mr.  Ruskin 
went  on  to  say,  depend  upon  its  giving  pleasure, 
and  by  the  attractions  of  beauty,  but  as  the 
foundation  from  which  all  teaching  must  start, 
they  had  there  the  most  perfect  specimens  of 
the  Bible — the  Baskerville,  the  German  Zurich 
Bible,  with  plates  mostly  by  Holbein  and  Dtirer 
— which  are  unequalled  for  perfect  illustration 
of  the  meaning  of  the  Scriptures.  Then  there 
were  elaborate  specimens  of  English  illuminated 
MSS.  of  the  Vulgate,  and  following  these  the 
first  perfect  copy  of  Holbein's  "Dance  of  Death." 
After  that  again  came  Carpaccio's  "Death  of  St. 
Jerome,"  the  translator  of  the  Bible  into  Latin  ; 
and  then  St.  George. 

Turning  from  these  illustrative  keys  to  the 
teachings  of  his  Museum,  Mr.  Ruskin  drew 
Prince  Leopold's  attentiim  to  his  unicjuc  collec- 
tion of  minerals  and  precious  stones — to  the 
specimens  of  gold  and  virgin  silver,  amethyst, 
onyx  stone,  and  many  other  unrivalled  examples 
of  the  wonders  of  mineralogy.  "  1  want,"  sniil 
he,  "to  get  everything  beautiful;"  and  in  an- 
swer to  a  question,  he  added,  "  I  am  proud  to 
say  that,  unlike  other  collectors,  1  never  spare 


THE  ST.  George's  guild  and  museum.     151 

cutting  my  specimens,  always  looking  to  that 
whicli  will  best  show  texture.  My  main  aim 
is  to  get  things  to  show  their  beauty."  Then 
passing  from  the  upper  case  of  precious  stones 
and  minerals,  Mr.  Ruskin  showed  many  of  the 
treasures  in  the  drawers,  beginning  with  the 
simple  flint  pebble,  and  passing  on  in  natural 
succession  to  jasper  and  agates,  to  specimens 
of  which,  showing  all  the  wondrous  laws  of 
their  structure,  he  called  attention  ;  then  on 
to  quartz  and  felspar  ;  "  and  so  we  get,"  said 
he,  "  the  constituents  of  granite ;  and  getting 
that,  you  go  on  to  the  constituents  of  everything 
else."  Then  there  were  amethysts,  cut  so  as 
to  show  their  stellar  form,  and  opals  and  crystals, 
with  their  perfectly  natural  facets — types  of  a 
beauty  with  which  it  is  Mr.  Ruskin's  hope  to 
attract  working  men  to  an  interest  in  the  struc- 
ture of  such  things. 

Turning  next  to  the  cabinets,  in  which  are 
stored  his  etchings  and  photographs,  Mr.  Rus- 
kin showed  a  photograph  from  that  earliest 
church  in  Venice  on  which  is  inscribed  his 
favourite  legend,  enjoining  on  the  merchants  to 
be  just,  and  to  have  their  weights  true.  That, 
said  Mr.  Ruskin,  was  the  beginning  of  the  whole 


152       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

commercial  prosperity  of  V^enice  ;  from  that  came 
the  pure  gold  of  the  A^enetian  zccchini  (ducats). 
Mr.  Firth  would,  he  thought,  be  interested  to 
know  that  when  he  was  daguerreotyping  in 
Venice,  and  wanted  absolutely  pure  gold  for  his 
plates,  he  could  get  nothing  so  pure  as  these 
old  Venetian  coins;  and  all  the  cit3's  prosperitj' 
was  the  outcome  of  that  honest  thoroughness. 
A  series  of  photographs  from  Venice,  showing 
the  various  forms  of  the  Greek  acanthus,  was 
exhibited,  Mr.  Ruskin  drawing  especial  atten- 
tion to  the  variety  introduced  by  the  plaj'  of 
the  workman's  hand,  no  one  leaf  being  like  an- 
other. In  drawings  of  his  own  w-hich  he  pro- 
duced, Mr.  Ruskin  said  his  object  had  been  to 
show  how  our  English  leaves  were  adapted  to 
the  same  treatment — the  oak  leaf,  for  instance. 
He  hoped  to  show  a  series  of  rude  carvings  by 
Sheffield  hoys  and  girls,  from  natural  leaves. 
He  was  going  to  have  a  series  carved  in  wood, 
and  the  cabbage  or  kale  would  be  the  first,  for 
tliat  was  the  vegetable  whicli  in  the  North  was 
the  origin  of  our  most  beautiful  sculptures.  Mr. 
Ruskin  showed  with  pride  a  cast  of  one  of  the 
vine  leaves  from  the  Ducal  Palace,  displaying 
admirably,  witli  a  fidelitj'   that  nothing  could 


THE    ST.    GEORGE'S    GUILD    AND    MUSEUM.        I  53 

rival,  the  patient  skill  of  the  workman  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  an  edge  than  which 
nothing  could  be  finer  or  clearer. 

Next  Mr.  Ruskin  drew  attention  to  a  rough 
block  of  sandstone — a  specimen  showing  the 
pure  cleavage  of  the  sands  of  England,  "  which, 
thanks  again  to  '  Fors,'  I  was  able  to  take  from 
Brantwood."  The  lesson  herein  was  character- 
istic of  the  whole  teaching  of  the  Museum — a 
leading  up  from  the  simplest  thing  to  those 
greater  things  on  which  he  had  been  discours- 
ing ;  and  turning  to  the  Prince,  Mr.  Ruskin 
observed,  "  You,  sir,  said  in  your  most  excel- 
lent address  that  England  is  the  mother  of  great 
nations.  May  we  not  teach  her  to  remember 
also  that  she  has  great  ancestors  ?  "  With  re- 
ference to  his  projects  in  regard  to  the  Museum, 
Mr.  Ruskin  said  he  did  not  want  to  build  an- 
other room  until  he  got  that  one  room  into 
perfect  condition.  Then,  when  that  room  was 
made  the  vestibule,  and  in  this  way  showing  the 
source  of  all  beauty,  as  he  got  power — having 
been  quietly  acquiring  the  necessary  land — he 
hoped  to  make  reading-rooms  for  the  work- 
men, which  they  could  use  in  connection  with 
this   room.       Drawing    his    Royal    Highness's 


154       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

attention  to  the  beautiful  view  from  the  win- 
dows, now  lighted  up  by  gleams  of  sunlight, 
Mr.  Ruskin  continued,  "  I  hope  always  to  have 
pretty  things  for  them  to  see,  and  light  to  read 
b}',  and  fitting  everything  close  as  I  do  so. 
And  1  hope  it  may  be  tilled  by  workmen  who 
will  join  to  scientific  teaching  this  study  of  art 
and  nature,  and  that  it  will  be  felt  by  the  town 
worth  making  an  effort  to  fill  the  rooms  with 
books."  "If  anything  now  fails,"  added  Mr. 
Ruskin,  modestly,  "it  will  be  my  fault;"  but 
he  was  understood  to  say  that  the  town  autho- 
rities would  find  him  in  every  way  obedient  to 
their  desires — as  his  Royal  Highness  would  do 
him  the  justice  of  admitting  that  he  was  ever 
submissive  to  the  powers  of  the  land,  as  repre- 
sented by  her  most  Gracious  Majesty  and  her 
royal  children. 

A  king's  treasury  such  as  this  which  was 
disclosed  to  the  Prince  is  worth  walking  a  mile 
or  two,  Mr.  Ruskin  thought,  to  see,  and  hence 
it  was  that  the  Museum  was  set  some  little  way 
out  of  the  town,  perched  on  a  hill,  and  in  the 
midst  of  green  fields.*     For  the  peculiarity  of 

•  An  illiislralcd  article  on  llic  Walklcy  Museum,  with 
some  particulars  supplied  by   Mr.  Swan,  appeared  in  the 


THE    ST.    GEORGES    GUILD    AND    MUSEUM.        1 55 

Sheffield  among  manufacturing  towns  is  the 
close  proximity  to  it  of  some  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful scenery  in  England.  From  the  front  door 
of  the  Walkley  Museum  to  the  right  is  an  ex- 
tensive view  of  the  Valley  of  the  Don,  with  the 
woods  of  Wharncliffe  Crags  far  away  in  the 
distance ;  while  to  the  left,  and  also  to  be  seen 
from  the  Museum  windows,  is  that  Rivelian 
valley  which  Elliot,  the  Corn-law  rhymer,  made 
his  favourite  resort : — 

"  Oh  tliat  I  were  a  primrose, 
To  bask  in  sunny  air, 
Far  away  from  the  plagues  that  make 

Town-dwelling  men's  despair! 
Or  like  a  rainbow  laughing 

O'er  Rivelin  and  Don, 
"When  misty  morning  calleth  up 
Her  mountains  one  by  one." 

In  the  visitors'  book  it  is  interesting  to  note 
the  places  from  which  pilgrims  have  come — 
London,  Leeds,  Hull,  Manchester,  Chester,  Bir- 
mingham, Canada,  New   York,  Australia,  and 

Pall  Mall  Gazette,  May  14th,  1 886.  From  that  article  I  have 
borrowed  the  following  few  paragraphs.  Some  reminis- 
cences of  the  late  Mr.  Swan,  "  the  faithful  steward  of  the 
Ruskin  Museum,"  appeared  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  April 
2nd  and  3rd,  18S9. 


156       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

even  China.  Some  of  these  pilgrims  have  lodged 
in  neighbouring  cottages,  and  visited  the  Mu- 
seum day  after  day  for  as  long  as  six  weeks 
together.  The  secret  of  the  attractiveness  of 
Mr.  Ruskin's  Museum  is  its  adherence  to  two 
golden  rules,  which  are  too  often  ignored  in 
more  imposing  institutions.  In  the  first  place, 
there  is  no  confusing  mass  of  heterogeneous  ob- 
jects. In  quantity  there  is  very  little,  and  every- 
thing is  co-ordinated  in  an  intelligible  scheme 
of  artistic  education.  And  in  the  second  place, 
whatever  there  is,  is  beautiful  and  good  of  its 
kind.  The  result  is,  Mr.  Ruskin  assures  us, 
that  every  visitor,  of  whatever  class,  to  the  little 
Walkley  Museuni,  who  has  any  real  love  for 
Art,  has  acknowledged  the  interest  and  value 
of  the  things  collected  in  its  single  room. 

The  Corporation  of  Sheffield  have  through- 
out shown  the  warmest  interest  in  the  Museum 
which  Mr.  Ruskin  thus  located  near  their  town." 
Some  time  ago  they  proposed  to  build  a  grand 
new  casket  for  these  art  treasures,  and  the 
negotiations    with    Mr.    Ruskin    were    nearly 

•  The  folluwing  p.nragraphs  are  mostly  borrowed  from 
an  article  on  tlie  Mecrsbrook  Park,  by  "  1".,"  in  the  Pall  Mall 
Gascllf,  Janiiaiy  6th,  1890. 


THE  ST.  George's  guild  and  museum.      157 

successfully  carried  through,  until  the  Corpora- 
tion made  it  a  condition  that  the  treasures  should 
be  secured  to  the  town  in  perpetuity,  where- 
upon Mr.  Ruskin  waxed  wroth,  and  took  to 
drawing  Anagallis  tenclla  (or  was  it  wild  straw- 
berry?), and  would  have  no  more  to  do  with 
Mayor  or  Corporation.  But  that  was  long  ago, 
and  since  then  the  Guild  has  fallen  on  evil 
days  ;  its  honoured  Master  has  been  stricken 
with  illness  ;  its  farms  have  gone  the  way  of 
most  farms  ;  but  through  good  report  and  evil 
report  the  faithful  Corporation  has  ever  been 
ready  to  help  the  afflicted  Guild.  At  last  it  be- 
came evident  that  the  present  building  could 
no  longer  be  tolerated.  Every  year  hundreds 
of  pilgrims  were  "  symbolically  instructed  "  by 
struggling  up  that  awful  hill,  and  the  complaints 
were  loud  and  many  ;  besides,  Walkley  could 
not  hold  half  the  treasures.  Mr.  Baker  (one  of 
the  trustees)  had  piles  of  drawings  at  Bewdley, 
many  were  still  at  Brantwood,  and  at  Sheffield 
itself  the  town  clerk's  office  was  idealized  by 
quantities  of  pictures  and  minerals,  poured  out 
unexpectedly  one  day  at  the  feet  of  the  corpora- 
tion by  the  all-generous  Master.  The  public 
had  an  opportunity  a  few  years  ago  of  seeing 


158       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    .MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

at  the  Fine  Art  Society's  galleries  several  speci- 
mens of  the  drawings  which  Mr.  Ruskin  had  in 
recent  years  commissioned  on  behalf  of  the 
St.  George's  Guild.* 

But  there  was  no  room  for  them  in  tlie  Mu- 
seum. Indeed,  already  it  had  been  found  ne- 
cessary to  put  up  a  wooden  shed  in  the  garden, 
in  order  to  accommodate  the  large  picture  of 
the  facade  of  St.  Mark's  which  Mr.  Ruskin  had 
bought  from  the  late  Mr.  Bunne}-.  Now,  by 
happy  chance  Sheffield  has  lately  bought  a  park 
just  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  and  in  it 
stands  a  fine  old  Georgian  mansion.  In  every 
wav  it  seems  suitable  for  the  Ruskin  Museum. 
Tram-cars  run  from  the  heart  of  the  town  to 
the  edge  of  the  park,  then  a  pleasant  walk  of 
three  minutes,  up  an  avenue  of  old  trees,  brings 
the  student  to  Meersbrook  Park.  The  rooms 
are  spacious,  well  proportioned,  and  admirably 
lighted.  There  is  a  long  gallery,  with  three 
large  windows,  and  a  smaller  one  excellently 
adapted  for  lectures  and  classes,  'i'iicn  there 
are  quiet,  airy  rooms  where  students  can  copy 
drawings  or  study  missals,  and  up-stairs  is  a 

*  May,    18S6.      A   catalomio  of  this  cshibitioii,  willi   a 
prefatory  note  by  Mr.  Ktiskin,  was  published. 


i,."';i!fli:\..,.  ..  ".i'l"*II 


THE  ST.  George's  guild  and  museum.      159 

complete  set  of  living  rooms  for  the  curator. 
All  is  solid,  dr^-,  quiet,  and  well  removed  from 
smoke  and  dirt.  Close  to  the  hall  is  its  fine 
old  garden,  enclosed  in  red  brick  walls,  and 
stocked  with  an  abundance  of  flowers,  fruit, 
and  vegetables. 

Nor  were  these  the  only  features  which  seemed 
to   mark    out    Meersbrook    Park    as  the    ideal 
home  for  the  Museum  of  the  St.  George's  Guild. 
Did  not  the  Master  write  hopefully  of  a  "cloistral 
inn,"  holy  tavern,  or  other  ideal  hostelry  which 
(with  a  no  less  ideal  hostess)  was  to  form  part 
of  the  Museum  ?     Here,  then,  is  the  hope  real- 
ized, for  at  the  end  of  a  little  woodland  path 
is  a  beautiful  open-timbered  house,  dating  back 
to  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  eentury.     Two 
bishops  were  born  there,  and  the  old  building 
is  known  still  as  the  Bishop's  House.     I  do  not 
presume    to   judge    of  the    requirements    of  a 
cloistral  inn,  but  the  old  house  seems  well  fitted 
to  comfortably  lodge  students  and  visitors.   This 
time  the  negotiations  have  been  brought  to  a 
triumphant  ending.    The  Corporation  offered  the 
hall,  garden,  and  Bishop's  House  to  the  Guild, 
conditionally  on  the  art  collection  being  secured 
to  them   for   twenty  years,   and    the    trustees 


l60      SOME   ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

joyfully  accepted  the  offer  (August,  1889).  It 
is  a  rule  of  the  Guild  "that  the  Master  must 
not  be  bothered,"  so  the  matter  was  briefly  laid 
before  Mr.  Ruskin,  and  his  cousin,  Mrs.  Severn, 
promptly  forwarded  his  ratification  of  the  scheme. 
The  mansion  has  been  suitably  decorated  ;  the 
collections  have  been  transferred  to  it,  and  the 
new  Museum  was  opened  by  the  Earl  of  Carlisle 
on  April  iSth,  1890.  A  greatly  enlarged  career 
of  usefulness  has  thus  been  opened  up  for  the 
Ruskin  Museum,  which  will  long  remain,  we 
may  hope,  as  a  monument  of  the  Acts  promoted 
by  Mr.  Ruskin's  "  Gospel."  * 

*  The  Curator  of  the  Museum  is  Mr.  Wilhain  White, 
from  whom  al!  particulars  with  regard  to  its  rules,  hours  of 
opening,  etc.,  may  be  obtained. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS. 

The  place  occupied  in  Mr.  Ruskin's  schemes  of 
practical  endeavour  by  the  industrial  experi- 
ments of  the  St.  George's  Guild  cannot  be  better 
described  than  in  Mr.  Ruskin's  own  words. 
"  The  notices  which  I  see,"  he  wrote  in  January, 
1886,  "in  the  leading  journals,  of  efforts  now 
making  for  the  establishment  of  industrial  vil- 
lages, induce  me  to  place  before  the  members 
of  the  St.  George's  Guild  the  reasons  for  their 
association,  in  a  form  which  may  usefully  be 
commended  to  the  attention  of  the  general  public. 
The  St.  George's  Guild  was  instituted  with  a 
view  of  showing,  in  practice,  the  rational  organi- 
zation of  country  life,  independent  of  that  of 
cities.  All  theefforts,  whether  of  the  Government 
or  the  landed  proprietors  of  England,  for  the  help 
or  instruction  of  our  rural  population,  have  been 
made  under  two  false  suppositions  :  the  first, 

II 


1 62       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

that  countr}'  life  was  henceforward  to  be  sub- 
ordinate to  that  of  towns  ;  the  second,  that  the 
landlord  was,  for  a  great  part  of  the  3'ear,  to 
live  in  the  town,  and  thence  to  direct  the  man- 
agement of  his  estate.     Whatever  may  be  the 
destiny  of  London,  or  Paris,  or  Rome  in  the 
future,  I  have  always  taught  that  the  problem  of 
right  organization  of  country  life  was  wholly  in- 
dependent of  them  ;  and  that  the  interests  of  the 
rural  population,  now  thought,  by  the  extension 
of  Parliamentary  suffrage,  to  be  placed  in  their 
own  keeping,  had  always  been  so,  and  to  the 
same    degree,    if    thej'    had    only    known    it. 
Throughout  my  writings  on  social  questions  1 
have  pointed  to  the  former  life  of  the  Swiss  (re- 
presented with  photographic  truth  by  Jereniias 
Gotthelf),*  and  to  the  still  existing  life  of  the 
Norwegians  and  Tyrolese,  perfectl}'  well  known 
to  every  thoughtful  and  kind-hearted  traveller  in 
their  respective  countries, — as  examples,  nearly 
perfect,  of  social  order  indopendent  of  cities: — 
but  with  Carlyle,  I  have  taught  also  that  in  the 
English,  French,  and  Italian  natures  there  was, 
superadded  to  the  elements  of  the  German  and 

*  See,  e^.,  his  "Ulric  llic  rarm-scrvant,"  tianslaU-d  by 
Mrs.  Firth  (G.  Allen). 


SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS.  1 63 

Norwegian  mind,  a  spirit  of  reverence  for  their 
leaders  in  worldly  things,  and  for  their  monitors 
in  spiritual  things,  which  was  their  greatest 
strength  and  greatest  happiness,  in  the  forfeiture 
of  which,  by  their  nobles,  had  passed  away  their 
own  honour,  and  on  the  loss  of  which,  by  the 
people,  had  followed  inevitably  the  degradation 
of  their  characters,  the  destruction  of  their  arts, 
and  the  ruin  of  their  fortunes  "  ("  Master's  Re- 
port," 1885,  pp.  I,  2).  The  object,  then,  of  the 
efforts  described  in  this  chapter  has  been  to  re- 
create these  lost  arts,  not  by  organizing  "in- 
dustrial villages,"  but,  what  is  a  very  different 
thing,  by  reviving  village  industries. 

"  A  subject  which  is  of  the  deepest  interest 
to  me,"  wrote  Mr.  Ruskin,  in  an  earlier  report 
than  the  one  just  cited,  "  is  the  success  of  Mr. 
Albert  Fleming  in  bringing  back  the  old  indus- 
try of  the  spinning-wheel  to  the  homes  of  West- 
moreland, greatly  increasing  their  happiness, 
and  effectively  their  means  of  support,  by  the 
sale,  already  widely  increasing,  of  the  soundest 
and  fairest  linen  fabrics  that  care  can  weave  or 
field-dew  blanch."  The  description  of  this  re- 
vived spinning  industry  given  in  the  first  of  the 
following  sections  has  been  kindly  written  for 


164       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

me  by  Mr.  Fleming.  "  For  lull  account  of  the 
kindly  and  honest  trade  in  homespun  work  I 
ma}',"  wrote  Mr.  Ruskin,  "  happilj'  and  thank- 
fuU}'  refer  the  reader  to  the  article  in  the  Pall 
Mall  Gazette  of  Monday,  February  8th  [1886]. 
...  I  have  nothing  more  closel}'  at  heart,  nor 
can  any  of  my  friends  oblige  me  more  than  by 
their  support  of  it."  The  description  of  this 
second  village  industry  given  in  the  second  sec- 
tion is  reprinted  from  the  article  referred  to  by 
Mr.  Ruskin  ;  whilst  in  the  third  section  I  have 
given  some  account  of  an  allied  experiment  in 
the  case  of  a  town  industry. 


§   I- 

THE    LANGDALE    LINEN    INDUSTRY. 

\_By  Mr.  Albert  Fkiiiiitg.'] 

Amongst  the  evils  resulting  from  the  gradual 
depopulation  of  the  villages  is  that  round  us  here, 
in  Westmoreland,  all  the  old  trades  are  dying  or 
dead- — bobbin-turning,  charcoal-burning,  wood- 
carving,  basket-making,  hand-spinning  and 
weaving — some  are  clean  vanished,  and  others 
are  the  mere  ghosts  of  their  old  selves.     My 


SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS.  1 6$ 

own  personal  experiment  has  been  to  try  and 
reintroduce  the  hand-spinning  and  weaving  of 
linen.  For  years  past  Mr.  Ruskin  has  been 
eloquently  beseeching  English  men  and  maidens 
once  more  to  spin  and  weave.  Wordsworth,  too, 
melodiously  lamented  the  disuse  of  the  spinning- 
wheel  ;  but  for  all  that,  it  was  as  practically  ex- 
tinct all  over  England  asour  great-grandmothers' 
sedan  chairs.  It  figured  on  Covent  Garden  stage 
every  season,  but  Margaret's  thread  was  scarcely 
of  a  marketable  quality.  And  if  the  wheels 
were  obsolete,  much  more  so  were  the  distaff 
and  spindle.  When  Lady  Freake's  pretty  young 
ladies  gave  their  Greek  play  some  years  ago, 
not  one  of  them  (nor  the  learned  Professor  who 
arranged  them  either)  had  any  idea  how  to  hold 
her  distaff,  much  less  how  to  spin  a  thread. 

In  the  face  of  all  this  prevailing  ignorance  I 
determined  to  try  and  bring  the  art  back  to  the 
Westmoreland  women.  Scattered  about  on  the 
fell  side  were  many  old  women,  too  blind  to 
sew  and  too  old  for  hard  work,  but  able  to 
sit  by  the  fireside  and  spin,  if  any  one  would 
show  them  how,  and  buy  their  yarn.  When  I 
broached  my  scheme  to  a  circle  of  practical  rela- 
tions a  Babel  of  expostulation  arose,  wild  as  a 


1 66       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 


Parsifal  chorus.  "  It  won't  pay ;  no  one  wants 
linen  to  last  fifty  years  ;  it's  fantastic,  impracti- 
cable, sentimental,  andqui.xotic."    But  to  balance 


i  Ciiup'i- 


PEASANT-WOMA.N    >PJNM.\t.. 
(From  a  tiraivittg  hy  Ktitth  Caf^pei.) 

all  this  came  a  voice  from  Brantwood,  sa^'ing, 
"Go  ahead;"  so  I  went  ahead,  hunted  up  .ui 
old  woman  who  had  spun  half  a  century  ago, 
and  discovered  some  wheels  of  a  similar  period. 


SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS.  1 6/ 

I  got  myself  taught  spinning,  and  then  set  to 
work  to  teach  others.  I  tried  my  experiment 
here,  in  the  Langdale  Valley,  in  Westmoreland, 
half-way  between  Mr.  Ruskin's  home  at  Con- 
iston  and  Wordsworth's  at  Rydal.  Sixty  years 
ago  every  cottage  here  had  its  wheel,  and  every 
larger  village  its  weaver.  Happy  days  those, 
"before  the  present  years  were  sought  out,  or 
ever  the  inventions  of  them  that  now  sin  were 
turned."  Our  first  difficulty  was  to  get  wheels  ; 
we  ransacked  the  country  side,  advertised  far 
and  wide,  and  bought  and  begged  anything  that 
had  a  leg  to  stand  on  or  a  wheel  to  turn.  De- 
lightful old  ladies  routed  out  their  lumber-rooms 
and  garrets,  and  here  and  there  a  farmer's  wife 
brought  tidings  of  a  wheel  having  been  heard 
of  in  some  remote  valley.  Some  came  from 
Stornoway,  and  others  from  the  Isle  of  Man. 
By-and-by  the  demand  became  so  great  that  we 
held  a  solemn  council  with  the  village  carpenter, 
and  ultimately  he  made  us  fifteen  good  service- 
able wheels. 

What  dire  difficulties  arose  over  our  first 
home-made  wheel  !  Birmingham  either  could 
not  or  would  not  turn  out  the  iron  fittings,  and 
actually   all   Sheffield  could  not  make   us   the 


1 68       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

necessary  left-handed  screws.    When  that  first 
wheel  was  completed  and  worked  well   I  was 


"  ST.    martin's  "    LANGDALK. 
{Front  a  liratumg  by  EtUt/t  Capper.) 

ready  to  bear  it  in  triumph  through  tJie  street, 
like  Cimabue's  picture.     1  wanted  to  carry  out 


SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS.  1 69 

the  whole  process,  from  the  flax  in  the  field  to 
the  sheet  on  the  bed,  but  that  I  found  impossible, 
and  I  have  to  get  my  flax  from  Ireland.  Then 
1  took  a  little  cottage,  and  made  it  into  a  spin- 
ning school  ;  a  quaint  place,  exactly  fulfilling 
Horace's  injunction,  "  Near  the  house  let  there 
be  a  spring  of  water,  and  a  little  wood  close  bj'." 
Kind  lady  friends  rallied  round  me,  and  gave  me 
practical  help  in  organizing  and  carrying  on  the 
scheme.  We  soon  had  many  pupils,  and  appli- 
cations for  wheels  came  from  all  sides.  When 
a  woman  could  spin  a  good  thread  I  let  her  take 
a  wheel  home,  and  gave  her  the  flax,  buying  it 
back  from  her  when  spun,  at  the  rate  of  2s.  6d. 
per  pound  of  thread.  Next  came  the  weaving. 
In  a  cellar  in  Kendal  we  discovered  a  loom ;  it 
was  in  twenty  pieces,  and  when  we  got  it  home 
not  all  the  collective  wisdom  of  the  village  knew 
how  to  set  it  up.  Luckily  we  had  a  photograph 
of  Giotto's  Campanile,  and  by  help  of  that  the 
various  parts  were  rightly  put  together.  We 
then  secured  an  old  weaver,  and  one  bright  Easter 
morning  saw  our  first  piece  of  linen  woven — the 
first  purely  hand-spun  and  hand-woven  linen 
produced  in  all  broad  England  in  our  generation. 
A  significant  fact  that,  if  you  think  all  round  it. 


1 70       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

Over  that  first  twenty  }-ards  the  scoffers  rejoiced 
greatly.  I  own  it  seemed  terrible  stuff,  frightful 
in  colour  and  of  dreadful  roughness,  with  huge 
lumps  and  knots  meandering  up  and  down  its 
surface.  But  we  took  heart  of  grace,  and  re- 
freshed ourselves  by  reading  that  beautiful 
passage  in  the  "  Seven  Lamps  "  ("  The  Lamp  of 
Life,"  p.  21)  which  convinced  us  that  these  little 
irregularities  were  really  the  honourable  badges 
of  all  true  hand  work.  Better  still,  an  elect  lady 
called  one  day,  and  even  without  the  prelimi- 
nary refreshment  of  the  passage  from  the 
"  Seven  Lamps,"  she  pronounced  the  stuff  de- 
lightful, and  bought  a  dozen  yards,  at  four 
shillings  a  yard. 

Having  got  our  linen,  the  next  process  was 
to  bleach  it.  I  read  various  treatises  on  bleach- 
ing, and  discovered  that  all  the  processes  were 
more  or  less  injurious  both  to  workmen  and  to 
stuff;  so,  as  Giotto  fi.xed  our  loom  for  us.  Homer 
taught  us  the  true  principle  of  bleaching,  and 
we  adopted  the  simple  method  described  in  the 
"  Odyssey."  Sun,  air,  and  ckw  were  our  only 
chemicals  :  potent  magicians  they,  changing  by 
their  sweet  alchemy  our  coarse  brown  stuff  into 
soft  white  linen.     Now,  Mr.  Howells  puts  tliis 


SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS. 


171 


wise  axiom  into  the  lips  of  one  of  his  heroines, 
"  Before  you  learn  to  do  a  thing,  be  sure  people 
want  it."     To  my  great  delight,  I  found  people 


"  OLD    JOHN,"    THE    WEAVER. 
{Fyoui  a  lirmvhig  hy  Edith  Cdppi-r.) 

did  want  real  hand-made  linen,  linen  that  they 
could  hand  down  as  family  heirlooms,  and  that 
rust  and  moth  could  not  corrupt.     Orders  and 


1/2       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.     RUSKI.NS    WORK. 

inquiries  came  from  all  parts  of  England.  Fash- 
ion helped  us,  too,  for  our  linen  was  eager!}' 
sought  after  for  embroider^',  for  curtains,  por- 
tieres, chair-backs,  tea-cloths,  and  a  dozen 
other  elegant  inutilities  ;  so  then,  to  quote  the 
"  Spectator,"  "  I  took  the  laudable  mystery  of 
embroidery  into  my  serious  consideration,"  and 
enrolled  a  staff  of  about  fortj'  poor  ladies,  who 
are  experienced  workers,  and  for  whose  work 
we  have  a  read}'  sale. 

And  now  to  wind  up  with  a  few  facts.  Wc 
have  two  looms  going,  and  about  thirty  women 
at  work.  The  old  weaver  gets  a  fi.xed  wage  of 
i6s.  a  week  and  a  good  cottage  rent  free.  The 
best  of  our  spinners  earn  about  6s.  a  week. 
We  make  seventeen  different  kinds  of  linen, 
varying  in  price  from  2s.  to  6s.  a  yard.  The 
widest  linen  is  44  inches,  and  its  price  is 
55.  6d.  a  yard.  Stout,  durable  sheeting  (very 
white  and  soft)  is  our  staple  production,  but  we 
aspire  to  table-cloths  and  body  linen  by-and- 
by.  All  money  produced  b}'  the  sale  of  linen 
is  paid  into  the  bank,  and  the  profits  will  be 
divided  among  the  workers  at  the  end  of  the 
year.  If  any  nice  old-fashioned  people  want 
any  of  our  linen,  or  care  to  know  anything  more 


SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS. 


'/J 


about  our  little  enterprise,  let  them  write  to  me, 
at  Neaum  Crag,  Langdale,  Ambleside. 


§     2. 


ST.    GEORGES       CLOTH. 


Some  ten  years  ago,  when  "  Fors  Clavigera" 
was  still  running  its  course,  and  Mr.  Ruskin 
was  telling  all  true  English  girls  that  among 
other  things  they  must  learn  to  spin  and  weave, 
a  correspondent  wrote  to  him  from  Laxey,  in 
the  Isle  of  Man,  to  say  that  there  was  still  a 
good  deal  of  spinning  done  on  that  little  island. 
Unfortunately,  however,  there  were  no  longer 
any  young  girls  learning  to  spin,  and  there 
seemed  every  prospect  that  in  a  few  years  more 
the  spinning-wheel  would  be  as  great  a  curiosity 
in  the  Isle  of  Man  as  it  was  already  in  Lanca- 
shire. The  reason  was  simple  enough.  There 
was  still  a  healthy  native  industry  for  women 
in  spinning  the  wool  of  the  Isle-bred  sheep,  but 
the  market  was  so  poor  that  frequently  infirm 
and  aged  women  were  obliged  to  leave  their 
cottages  and  their  spinning-wheels  to  work  in 
the  mines.  This  was  the  natural  tendency, 
everybody   said,  of  inevitable   laws ;  but    Mr. 


1/4       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

Ruskin  was  well  accustomed  to  stand  contra 
mnnduui,  and  determined  to  make  a  last  effort 
to  save  "the  venerable  art"  that  was  being  so 
remorselessly  "  torn  from  the  poor." 

He  at  once  found  his  man  in  the  correspon- 
dent above  referred  to,  Mr.  Egbert  Rydings, 
with  whose  intelligent  help  the  decrepit  indus- 
try was  quickly  put  on  its  legs.  Mr.  Rydings's 
heart  was  in  the  business  :  there  could  be 
no  doubt  of  that.  Why,  every  blanket  and 
sheet,  every  piece  of  flannel  and  cloth,  every 
pair  of  stockings,  in  his  house,  had  been  spun 
either  by  his  wife  or  by  her  mother  before  her. 
"  We  have  now  linen  sheets  in  wear,"  wrote 
Mr.  Rydings,  with  pleasant  pride,  "not  a  hole 
or  a  tear  in  them,  that  were  spun  by  my  wife's 
mother — and  she,  poor  body,  has  been  dead 
twenty-eight  or  twenty-nine  years — the  flax 
grown  on  their  own  farm."  What  do  j-ou  think 
of  that  ?  And  did  not  the  daughters  of  Lord 
Auckland,  when  he  was  Bishop  of  Sodor  and 
Man,  go  every  Saturday  afternoon  to  the  dear 
old  lady  to  learn  to  spin  ?  Mr.  Rydings  was 
thus  reviving  a  family  tradition  as  well  as  a 
village  industry.  Tirst  of  all,  Mr.  Ruskin  found 
money  to  encourage   some  of  the  older  and 


SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS.  1/5 

feebler  workers,  and  he  then  had  a  water-mill 
built.  He  has  often  been  accused  of  prefer- 
ring the  beautiful  to  the  useful,  and  I  give  the 
accompanying  sketch  of  St.  George's  Mill,  at 
Laxey,  to  refute  the  accusation.  The  author 
of  "  The  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture  "  and  of 
"  The  Stones  of  Venice  "  is  justifiably  proud  of 
this  substantial  building,  and  the  photograph 
of  it,  with  the  accompanying  legend,  from  which 
this  sketch  is  taken,  occupies  a  prominent  place 
among  the  other  art  treasures  in  the  drawing- 
room  at  Brantwood.  The  first  virtue  in  any 
building  is  that  it  should  be  suitable  to  its 
purpose,  and  no  one  can  deny  to  the  Laxey 
Mill  an  honest  ugliness  which  exactly  suits  the 
home  "  of  the  manufacture  of  honest  thread 
into  honest  cloth." 

This  romantic  building  is  at  once  a  factory 
and  a  store.  It  contains,  in  the  first  place,  the 
machinery  for  carding  and  spinning  the  wool 
and  washing  the  cloth.  The  word  machinery 
may  very  probably  grate  on  the  ear  of  the  more 
devout  Ruskinian,  and  I  hasten  therefore  to 
explain  that  the  motive  power  is  a  water-wheel. 
And  it  may  here  be  noted,  for  the  consolation 
of  weaker    brethren,    that   the   prohibition    of 


1/6      SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

machinery  b^'  "St.  George"  is  not  absolute. 
It  is  not  forbidden  except  where  it  supersedes 
healtliy  bodily  exercise  or  the  art  and  precision 
of  manual  labour.  It  is  only  steam  that  is  abso- 
lutely refused,  as  being  "  a  cruel  and  furious 
waste  of  fuel,  to  do  what  every  stream  and 
breeze  are  ready  to  do  costlessly."  The  moored 
river-mill  alone,  says  Mr.  Ruskin,  "  invented  by 
Belisarius  fourteen  hundred  years  ago,  would 
do  all  the  mechanical  work  ever  required  by  a 
nation  which  either  possessed  its  senses  or  could 
use  its  hands."  But  Mr.  Ruskin's  mill  is  a 
store  as  well,  and  in  this  capacity  it  enables 
him  to  revive  another  piece  of  the  olden  time. 
There  is  a  sale  in  the  ordinary  way  for  the  out- 
side work],  but  there  is  the  good  old  institution 
of  barter  also.  The  farmers  bring  their  wool, 
wliich  is  stored  in  the  mill,  and  are  paid  for  it 
either  by  finished  cloth  or  by  yarn  for  home 
knitting,  or  occasionally  by  wool  prepared  for 
home  spinning.  One  docs  not  like  to  think 
what  the  rigid  economists  would  say  to  this  cal- 
culated interference  with  the  division  of  labour ; 
but  then,  as  the  lives  of  the  peasants  are  the 
healthier,  perhaps  the  other  kind  of  wealth  may 
be  left  to  look  .ifiir  IK.-If. 


SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS.  1 77 

But  in  addition  to  this  work  of  preparing  yarn 
and  wool,  the  "  hands  "  at  the  mill  make  a  good 
deal  of  cloth  for  outside  sale.  This,  indeed, 
was  an  essential  part  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  scheme. 
There  was  no  good,  he  saw,  in  denouncing 
people  for  wearing  shoddy  unless  he  could  also 
put  them  in  the  way  of  buying  honest  cloth. 
The  square  yard  of  Laxey  homespun  was  to  be 
"one  of  the  standards  of  value  in  St.  George's 
currency,"  but  it  was  also  to  be  a  standard  of 
material  in  dress.  It  is  "all  wool,"  for  one 
thing;  and  for  another,  it  is  dyed  indelibly, 
being,  indeed,  the  natural  colour  of  the  black 
sheep  of  the  island,  blended  in  certain  propor- 
tions of  white  wool.  Anybody  who  likes  cloth 
warranted  not  to  change  colour  or  to  shrink 
cannot  do  better  (especiallyjust  now,  when  greys 
are  so  fashionable)  than  order  a  dress  length  of 
the  Laxey  homespun.  The  Duchess  of  Albany 
wrote  to  Mr.  Ruskin  a  year  or  two  ago,  expres- 
sing her  great  pleasure  at  receiving  a  length  of 
cloth  made  by  the  Guild,  in  whose  work  her 
husband  took  so  great  an  interest.  One  fault— 
for  I  must  not  conceal  its  dark  side— one  fault 
St.  George's  cloth  cheerfully  confesses.  It  lasts 
a  very  long  time,  and  that,  Mr.  Rydings  says, 

12 


lyS       SOME   ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIiN's    WORK. 

was  what  made  the  Manx-made  stuffs  go  out  of 
request:  theydid  not  give  young  women  a  chance 
of  having  four  or  five  new  gowns  in  the  year. 

But  if  there  are  any  English  housewives  ready 
to  forgive  this  fault,  they  cannot  do  better  than 
send  some  orders  to  Mr.  Rydings  (Laxey,  Isle 
of  Man ),  or  to  Mr.  George  Thomson  (Woodhouse 
Hill,  Huddersfield),  who  has  latterly  relieved 
Mr.  Ruskin  of  the  management  of  the  St. 
George's  Mill. 

§  3. 

"  GEORGE   THOMSON    AND    CO." 

The  "  work  according  to  Ruskin  "  which  has 
now  to  be  described  is  not,  like  the  schemes 
already'  noticed,  directly  connected  with  the  St. 
George's  Guild.  The  prime  mover  in  the  matter 
is,  however,  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Guild, 
and  the  impetus  which  launched  tiic  scheme 
three  years  ago  was  derived  from  Mr.  Ruskin's 
teaching.  The  scheme  itself,  which  is  of  a  more 
far-reaching  kind  than  the  others,  is  of  deep 
interest  in  days  when  the  condition  of  England 
question  is  once  more  in  every  one's  mouth. 

Mr.  Ruskin  is  no  Socialist.     "The  division 


SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS.  1 79 

of  property,"  he  has  said,  "  is  its  destruction  ; 
and  with  it  the  destruction  of  all  hope,  all  in- 
dustry, and  all  justice."  But  while  Mr.  Ruskin 
differs  from  the  Socialists  in  that  he  does  not 
wish  for  any  forcible  division  of  property,  he  has 
proposed  an  almost  equally  revolutionary  scheme 
in  saying  that  property  should  be  only  "  to  whom 
proper."  The  capitalist,  for  instance,  has  no 
right,  according  to  him,  to  exact  interest.  Em- 
ployers should  be  paid  just  wages  for  their 
superintendence  of  labour,  but  not  for  their 
capital ;  that  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  Mr. 
Ruskin's  teaching  on  the  capital  and  labour 
question. 

It  is  this  "  law  of  political  economy  "  that  one 
of  the  companions  and  trustees  of  St.  George's 
Guild  is  now  carrying  out  into  practice,  as  far 
as  he  can,  in  the  case  of  his  own  business — the 
well-known  woollen  and  worsted  manufactory 
of  William  Thomson  and  Sons,  at  Huddersfield. 
Mr.  George  Thomson,  the  head  of  the  firm,  is 
converting  it  into  a  productive  association  on 
a  truly  co-operative  basis.  The  new  association 
takes  over  the  business  at  a  price,  of  course  ; 
but  the  disposition  in  which  "  St.  George"  makes 
bargains  of  the  kind  is  not  quite  the  same  as 


l80       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

that  of  some  other  promoters  of  companies.  The 
amount  to  be  paid  is  fixed  on  an  independent 
vahiation,  and  Mr.  Thomson  decided  that  such 
vahiation  was  not  to  inchide  an}-  consideration 
whatever  for  goodwill.  Further,  the  whole  of 
the  sum,  so  far  as  it  is  not  taken  up  in  shares, 
will  be  paid  for  b}'  loan  stock,  bearing  interest 
at  the  rate  of  ;^5  P^r  cent,  per  annum,  and  so 
long  as  this  interest  is  paid  the  principal  cannot 
be  demanded  ;  subject  to  the  payment  of  ;£^5  per 
cent,  on  the  shares — which  in  time  will  largely 
pass,  it  maj'  be  hoped,  into  the  hands  of  the 
workmen  and  women — half  the  net  profits  of 
the  concern  will  go  to  the  workers.  A  sum  of 
;£^SOO  has  already  either  been  earned  as  profit 
or  deposited  as  share-capital,  by  the  workers, 
thus  showing  their  appreciation  of  the  scheme. 
The  moral  effect  of  it  on  the  general  character 
of  the  workers,  in  increasing  their  self-respect 
and  interest  in  their  work,  has  been  particularly 
noticed  by  all  visitors. 

Out  of  the  other  half  of  the  profits,  equitable 
allowances  are  made  to  customers.  The  cus- 
tomers so  far  have  been  mainly  co-operative 
societies,  and  50  per  cent,  of  the  net  profits  is 
divided  amongst  all  such  societies  as  have  done 


SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS.  l8l 

business  to  the  extent  of  ;^50  per  annum  (with 
net  cash  payment).  The  co-operative  societies 
are  thus  practically  their  own  producers,  with- 
out the  trouble  of  production.  One  society  re- 
ceived about  ;6^20  last  year  in  this  way,  over 
and  above  all  that  they  would  have  had  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  trade. 

By  this  means  it  is  hoped  to  counteract  the 
constant  efforts  of  buyers  to  run  down  articles 
for  buying,  and  run  them  up  for  selling.  Mr. 
Thomson  himself — who,  by  the  way,  is  examiner 
of  cloth  manufacture  for  the  City  and  Guilds 
of  London  Technical  Institute — remains  at  the 
head  of  the  business  as  manager,  and  will  be 
paid  his  wages  like  every  one  else,  sharing,  I 
presume,  in  proportion  with  the  other  workers, 
but  no  more,  in  such  net  profits  as  he  may  assist 
in  earning.  It  is  a  commonplace  with  capitalists 
to  say  that  "  the  interests  of  capital  and  labour 
are  identical ;  "  so,  no  doubt,  in  a  sense  they 
are,  even  under  our  existing  economical  condi- 
tions. The  same  good  times,  tlnat  is  to  say, 
that  secure  to  the  worker  his  weekly  dole  secure 
to  the  capitalist  his  lion's  share.  But  it  is  only 
under  such  co-operative  organization  as  I  am 
describing  that  the  interests  of  capital  and  labour 


1 82       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

are  identical  in  the  sense  that  the  capitalist  is 
made  a  labourer  and  the  labourers  are  made 
capitalists. 

What  Mr.  Ruskin  himself  thinksof  the  scheme 
is  sufficiently  shown  in  the  following  letter,  which 
he  addressed  to  Mr.  Thomson  on  the  subject  in 
1886:— 

"  I  cannot  enough  thank  you,  or  express  the  depth  ol' 
my  pleasure  in  tlie  announcement  of  the  momentous 
and  absolutely  foundational  step  taken  by  you  in  all 
that  is  just  and  wise,  in  the  establishment  of  these  rela- 
tions witli  your  workmen.  I  may  perhaps  yet  live  to 
see  '  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord  prosper  in  your  hand  ; ' 
for  though  making  no  sign,  I  have  been  steadily  ad- 
vancing in  strength,  hope,  and  lately  even  in  youthful 
enjoyment  of  former  work,  and  continuance  of  it  on  the 
old  terms.  '  Praiterita '  is  advancing  fast  toward  the 
part  in  which  I  shall  resume  the  courses  of  thought 
which  led  to  writing  '  Unto  This  Last,'  and  shall  throw 
what  I  was  able  to  say  confusedly  into  more  intelligible 
and  open  form.  But  without  your  practical  power  and 
faith  nothing  could  have  been  yet  done." 

This  latest  development  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  political 
economy  is  not,  of  course,  a  new  thing;  but  tiie 
concern  starts  under  conditions  of  success  and 
upon  genuinely  co-operative  terms,  which  have 
not  always  attended  similar  undertakings.  It 
is  not  an  amateur  aftair,  set  on  foot  by  philan- 


SOME    INDUSTRIAL    EXPERIMENTS.  I  S3 

thropic  outsiders  ;  it  is  the  result  of  tine  appeal 
which  has  for  so  long  been  addressed  to  the 
manufacturers  themselves  to  organize  their  in- 
dustry on  a  sounder  basis  than  that  of  individual 
competition.  As  such  Mr.  Ruskin  may  well 
describe  it  as  "a  momentous  and  absolutely 
foundational  step." 


CHAPTER    VII. 

MR.    RUSKIN    AND    THK    BOOKSELLERS. 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  Paternoster  Row  to  Sunny- 
side,  at  Orpington,  where  Mr.  Ruskin's  publish- 
ing is  carried  on.  The  noise  and  bustle  of  a  great 
commercial  establishment  are  exchanged  for  a 
quiet  little  family  circle ;  and  instead  of  the 
"  city's  central  roar,"  you  are  surrounded  by  the 
hills  of  Kent.  The  system  of  business  presents 
an  even  greater  contrast.  Other  authors  are 
content  to  grumble — individually  or  in  incor- 
porated societies — against  the  wiles  of  pub- 
lishers and  the  tricks  of  trade.  Mr.  Ruskin 
alone  has  shaken  himself  free  from  the  trammels, 
and  establisiied  a  publisher  and  bookseller  of  his 
own  and  on  his  own  terms.  This  new  method 
was  described  as  follows  in  "  Fors  Clavigcra," 
the  first  of  his  books  which  bore  the  imprint 
of  "George  Allen"  instead  of  "Smith  and 
Elder:"— 


MR.  RUSKIN  AND  THE  BOOKSELLERS.    1 85 

"  It  costs  me  _^lo  to  print  1,000  copies,  and  ^'5  more 
to  give  you  a  picture,  and  a  penny  off  my  Td.  to  send 
you  the  book;  a  thousand  sixpences  are  ^25;  when 
you  have  bought  a  thousand  '  Fors '  of  me  I  shall 
therefore  have  ^5  for  my  trouble,  and  my  single  shop- 
man, Mr.  Allen,  £^  for  his ;  we  won't  work  for  less, 
either  of  us.  And  I  mean  to  sell  all  my  large  books, 
henceforward,  in  the  same  way ;  well  printed,  well 
bound,  and  at  a  fixed  price  ;  and  the  trade  may  charge 
a  proper  and  acknowledged  profit  for  their  trouble  in 
retailing  the  book.  Then  the  public  will  know  what 
they  are  about,  and  so  will  tradesmen.  I,  the  first 
producer,  answer,  to  the  best  of  my  power,  for  the 
quality  of  the  book — paper,  binding,  eloquence,  and 
all  :  the  retail  dealer  charges  what  he  ought  to  charge, 
openly ;  and  if  the  public  do  not  choose  to  give  it,  they 
can't  get  the  book.  That  is  what  I  call  legitimate 
business." 


It  is  now  fifteen  years  since  Mr.  Ruskin 
started  this  plan  of  campaign,  and  in  view  of 
the  ever-recurring  controversy  between  authors 
and  pubhshers,  I  sought  an  opportunity  a  year 
or  two  ago  of  learning  how  the  plan  is  found 
to  work.  Mr.  George  Allen  inquired  for  Mr. 
Ruskin's  wishes  in  the  matter,  and  Mr.  Ruskin 
kindly  authorized  him  to  tell  me  "  everything  I 
cared  to  ask,  and  show  me  everything  I  cared 
to  see."  The  following,  with  such  alterations 
only    as    have    been    necessary    to    bring    the 


l86      SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

particulars  up  to  date,  was  the  description, 
written  at  tlie  time,  of  what  is  probably  one  of 
the  most  successful  publishing  businesses  of 
the  day  : — 

"  Mr.  Ruskin  has  transferred  his  publishing,"  said  the 
trade  circular,  contemptuously,  some  years  ago,  "  to  the 
middle  of  a  country  field."  The  remark  was  quite  true. 
Sunnyside  is  a  pleasant  private  house,  standing  in  its 
own  grounds,  which  slope  down  into  one  of  the  prettiest 
vales  of  Kent.  Mr.  Allen  tells  me  that  he  is  fond  of 
roses,  and  the  fame  of  his  cabbages  is  known  to  readers 
of  "  Fors  Clavigera."  The  place  is  only  some  twelve 
miles  from  London,  but  the  scene  is  one  of  complete 
rural  seclusion.  Like  his  principal,  Mr.  Allen  has  his 
thorn  in  the  flesh,  for  one  vmcompromisingly  ugly 
cottage  is  visible  to  the  right ;  but  with  this  e.'cception 
the  view  from  the  drawing-room  windows  stretches 
uninterruptedly  over  the  vale  to  the  Knockholt  Becchi'S. 
On  one  of  the  walls  there  hangs,  between  some  pencil 
drawings  by  Mr.  Ruskin  of  his  favourite  Abbeville, 
a  water-colour  drawing  of  the  view  which  Mr.  Ruskin 
sees  from  his  study  window.  It  is  drawn  by  Mr.  Ruskin, 
and  shows  "morning  breaking  along  the  Coniston  Fells, 
and  the  mists,  motionless  and  grey  beneath  the  rose  of 
the  moorlands,  veiling  the  lower  woods,  and  the  sleep- 
ing village,  and  the  long  lawns  by  the  lake-shore." 

Uehind  Mr.  Allen's  house,  at  one  side  of  his  back 
garden,  stands  a  substantial  building  which  serves  for 
warehouse.  It  is  a  valuable  one.  "  I  have  taken  stock 
only  recently,  and  I  find  we  have  ;^2S,ooo  worth  of 
goods  stowed  away.  You  see  our  business  was  not 
made;  it  grew.     If  I  had  foreseen  its  growth  I  should 


MR.  RUSKIN  AND  THE  BOOKSELLERS.    1 8/ 

have  built  a  more  commodious  vvareliouse,  but  we 
began  in  a  humble  way  without  one  at  all,  and  I  cannot 
go  on  adding  to  it,  or  I  should  cover  my  garden  in  no 
time  ;  so  we  have  to  utilize  every  inch  of  space,  as  you 
see  ;  up  there  is  '  The  Stones  of  Venice  ; '  down  there  in 
the  corner  is  '  The  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture.'  "  If  the 
science  of  architecture  consists  in  the  adjustment  of 
means  to  end,  Mr.  Ruskin's  publisher  has  lit  his  author's 
lamps  to  some  purpose,  for  a  neater  and  better-kept 
warehouse  you  will  not  easily  find.  There  are  sixty- 
three  different  works  (or  editions)  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  in 
stock,  most  of  them  in  various  styles  of  binding.  To 
keep  all  these  in  due  place,  so  as  to  execute  orders  for 
one  here  and  there  every  day,  in  what  is  hardly  m(jre 
than  a  garden  outhouse,  requires  considerable  skill. 
And  then  Mr.  Ruskin's  books  are  not  like  other  people's, 
which  are  complete  in  one  volume,  or  two  volumes,  or 
three.  He  has  at  least  a  dozen  of  them  on  hand, 
appearing  in  parts,  at  irregular  intervals — a  method 
which  calls  for  quite  as  much  method  on  the  publisher's 
part  as  versatility  on  the  author's. 

The  issuing  department  is  as  heavily  taxed  as  the 
stockkeepiug.  Ordinary  publishers  deal,  of  course, 
almost  entirely  wholesale.  Most  of  their  books  are  sub- 
scribed for  by  the  trade,  and  subsequent  country  orders 
are  concentrated  by  Loudon  middlemen.  But  Mr. 
Ruskin's  leading  idea  was  to  eliminate  the  middleman. 
His  agent  is  bookseller  and  publisher  in  one.  The  books 
are  "  published  by,"  and  for  a  long  time  were  only 
"  to  be  had  of,  Mr.  George  Allen,  Sunuyside,  Orpington." 
This,  of  course,  entails  a  great  deal  of  labour  upon 
the  central  establishment,  which  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  the  trade  is  divided  among  many  hands.  As  Mr. 
Ruskin's   books   are   all  sumptuously  got  up,  so  thej' 


1 88       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

liave  to  be  all  carefully  packed.  Every  parcel  is 
protected  by  straw  or  deal  boards,  and  the  sorting, 
packing,  tying,  weighing,  and  stamping  make  up  a  good 
day's  work  for  all  concerned.  Her  Majesty's  Post- 
master-General sucks  no  small  advantage  therefrom,  but 
he  affords  no  special  facilities,  and  every  afternoon  Mr. 
Allen's  man  may  be  seen  trudging  off  with  his  bundles 
on  his  back  to  the  village  post-office,  a  mile  and  more 
distant  from  Sunnysidc.  The  bundles  are  hcav)-,  but 
the  result  is  not  cumbrous.  There  was  a  great  run  on 
tlie  new  edition  of  "The  Stones  of  Venice,"  but  every 
subscriber  had  his  copy  or  copies  despatched  witliiu 
four  days  of  publication.  "  Prseterita,"  too,  is  very  popu- 
lar, but  each  part  is  punctually  delivered  within  three 
days.  In  one  respect,  however,  Mr.  Ruskin's  method 
greatly  eases  his  publisher's  labour.  "  Mr.  Allen  has 
positive  orders  to  attend  to  no  letter  asking  credit." 
This  rule  is  not  quite  strictly  enforced  as  against  tlie 
trade.  Obviously  a  bookseller  could  not  be  expected 
to  pay  for  twenty  copies,  say,  of  "The  Stones  of  Venice," 
at  four  guineas  each,  before  delivery,  but  prompt  pay- 
ment is  e.xpected  and  is  made,  and  in  the  case  of 
private  customers  credit  is  very  seldom  allowed.  Tlie 
accounts  at  the  Orpington  establishment — which  Mr. 
Allen  was  good  enough  to  place  unreservedly  in  my 
hands — are  comparatively  simple,  and  what  is  more, 
arc  capable,  of  course,  of  being  always  kept  close  up 
to  date.  The  value  of  every  book  disposed  of  is  also 
immediately  credited,  and  Mr.  Ruskin's  balance-sheet 
can  therefore  at  any  moment  be  precisely  made  up  to 
the  exact  date.  How  many  authors,  I  wonder,  are  in 
an  equally  fortunate  condition  ! 

The  readers  will  probably  be  surprised,  1   tliiiik,  to 
hear   what   the  staff  is  which  discharges   the   various 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    THK    BOOKSELLERS.         1 89 

duties  I  liave  described.  It  consists  of  eight  persons 
only,  two  of  whom,  it  should  be  stated,  are  largely 
occupied  not  so  much  in  the  publishing  as  in  the 
producing  department.  Mr.  Allen  himself  is  an 
engraver  by  profession.  For  thirty  years  he  has  been 
engaged  as  Mr.  Rnskin's  assistant  in  this  matter. 
Readers  of  "  Modern  Painters"  will  remember  Mr. 
Ruskin's  compliment  to  "  Mr.  G.  Allen's  accurate  line 
studies  from  nature,'  and  nearly  all  his  later  works — 
from  the  Oxford  lectures  to  "  Prasterita" — have  been 
engraved  by  the  same  careful  and  skilful  hands.  Mr. 
Allen,  in  his  turn,  is  assisted  in  the  engraving  work  by 
his  second  son.  The  eldest  son  and  daughter  are 
chiefly  responsible  for  directing  the  details  of  the  pub- 
lishing w^ork,  while  the  remaining  members  of  the 
family  are  the  other  "hands."  Even  so,  I  have  not 
enumerated  all  the  family  tasks.  More  and  more  Mr. 
Ruskin  has  come,  as  he  has  said,  to  trust  to  his  good 
friends  at  Orpington.  At  first  he  took  an  active  part 
in  superintending  the  issue  of  his  books  ;  but  latterly 
he  has  merely  said,  "  Bring  out  such  and  such  a  book," 
and  they  bring  it  out ;  "  Do  this,"  and  they  do  it.  Miss 
Allen,  in  addition  to  her  duties  as  proof-reader,  was 
mainly  responsible,  too,  for  the  compilation  of  the 
"Ruskin  Birthday  Book."  "Is  not  the  establishment 
rather  heavily  ta.xed,"  I  asked,  "  at  times,  when  a  new 
book,  like  'The  Stones  of  Venice,'  for  instance,  is 
issued  ?"  "  Well,  yes,  it  is,"  was  the  answer ;  "  but  what 
we  have  to  do,  we  do.  For  one  thing,  there  is  no  alter- 
native. You  see  there  is  nobody  in  this  village  whom  we 
could  take  on  for  emergencies ;  but  besides  that,  we 
all  have  our  hearts  in  the  work,  and  have  been  deter- 
mined from  the  first  to  make  Mr.  Ruskin's  e.\-periment 
a  success."     Publishing  at  Orpington  is,  it  will  be  seen. 


190       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

distinctly  a  home  industry,  and  the  Aliens,  as  Mr. 
Ruskin  says,  in  the  Preface  to  the  1880  edition  of  "  The 
Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture,"  are  distinctly  "a  Iielpful 
family." 

Visitors  to  Sunnyside  are  not  unnaturally  a  good 
deal  surprised.  "  Generally,"  I  was  told,  "they  will  not 
believe  it  is  the  right  house.  They  apologize  for  their 
mistake ;  they  wanted  '  the  shop ; '  will  we  kindly 
direct  them  to  'Allen's'?"  "And  have  you  had  dis- 
tinguished strangers  among  your  customers,  who  have 
come  in  person?  "  "  Not  very  many.  Mr.  Darwin  used 
to  live  a  mile  or  two  off,  and  members  of  his  family 
came  sometimes.  Carlyle,  too,  came  over  once,  when 
he  was  staying  at  Lord  Derby's  place  at  Keston.  He 
was  very  interesting,  and  wanted  particularly  to  know 
whether  we  didn't  keep  'a  coo.'"  (It  was  after  this 
visit,  no  doubt,  that  Carlyle  wrote  to  Emerson  of 
"  the  way  Ruskin  has  towards  the  bibliopolic  world.") 
"  Visitors  seldom  understand  that  we  can  have  any 
work  to  do.  The  greatest  sceptic  of  all  is  Mr.  Ruskin 
himself.  When  he  was  staying  with  us  last  year  we 
tried  to  get  him  to  come  and  help  ;  but  he  was  quite 
frightened  at  the  parcels,  and  refused  to  believe  that 
anybody  really  wanted  to  buy  his  books.  We  must 
take  him  for  walks,  he  said,  and  so  off  we  girls  went 
with  him  to  the  flowers  and  the  woods." 

The  foregoing  report  will  s1k)W  that  Mr. 
Ruskin's  new  departure  in  publishing  has,  at 
any  rate,  carried  out  in  practice  two  favourite 
ideals  of  the  "New  PoHtical  Economy:"  it  has 
established  a  happy  village  industr}-,  and  it  has 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    THE    BOOKSELLERS.         I9I 

partially  eliminated  the  middleman.  How  far 
it  has  succeeded  in  securing  authors'  profits  and 
preventing  "  underselling "  by  the  trade  (for 
all  Mr.  Ruskin's  books  are  retailed  at  their 
published  prices,  a  fixed  discount  being  allowed 
to  the  trade)  will  be  seen  from  the  following 
details,  which  Mr.  Allen  gave  me  respecting  his 
sales  and  dealings,  both  with  Mr.  Ruskin  and 
with  the  trade  : — 

"  I  could  even  sell  my  books,"  said  Mr.  Ruskin  ten 
years  ago,  in  "  Fors,"  "  for  not  inconsiderable  sums  of 
money  if  I  chose  to  bribe  the  reviewers,  pay  half  of  all 
I  get  to  the  booksellers,  stick  bills  on  the  lamp-posts, 
and  say  nothing  but  what  would  please  the  Bishop  of 
Peterborough.  I  could  say  a  great  deal  that  would 
please  him,  and  yet  be  very  good  and  useful ;  I  should 
like  much  again  to  be  on  terms  with  my  old  publisher, 
and  hear  him  telling  me  nice  stories  over  our  walnuts, 
this  Christmas,  after  dividing  his  year's  spoil  with  me 
in  Christmas  charity."  Remembering  this  passage,  and 
others  of  about  the  same  date,  in  which  Mr.  Ruskin 
spoke,  at  the  outset  of  his  campaign,  against  the 
publishing  and  bookselling  trades,  of  the  sacrifices  it 
entailed  on  him,  I  asked  Mr  Allen  how  the  fortune 
of  war  had  gone  since  then.  "  It  has  been  a  winning 
game,"  said  Mr.  Allen,  "  and  a  gradually  expanding 
business.  It  began  sixteen  years  ago,  with  Mr  Ruskin 
employing  me  to  sell  'Fors  Clavigera.'  His  original 
battle  was  against  the  bookselling  trade  only.  Messrs. 
Smith  and  Elder  printed   '  Fors '  at   first,  and  I  sold 


192       SOME   ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

them.  Mr.  Ruskin  objected  to  the  principle  of  dis- 
counts and  abatements  adopted  by  the  booksellers, 
and  I  was  to  sell  '  Fors '  at  a  fixed  price  to  all  comers. 
Then  came  the  '  Revised  Series '  of  his  already  com- 
pleted works  ('  Sesame  and  Lilies,'  etc.)  ;  these  origin- 
ally bore  the  double  imprint  of  Messrs.  Smith,  Elder, 
and  Co.  and  myself.  They  were  sold — in  purple  calf 
bindings  only — in  both  cases,  on  the  same  terms  as 
'Fors.'  After  1873  Mr.  Ruskin's  connection  with  his 
old  publishers  ceased,  and  lie  gradually  threw  all  his 
publishing  on  me.  Since  then  I  liave  undertaken 
publishing  for  other  authors  besides  Mr.  Ruskin.  I 
am  an  engraver,  and  had  no  special  knowledge  of  the 
publishing  trade  whatever.  But  the  business  has 
grown  and  grown  ever  since." 

"  Till  it  has  reached — wliat  ?  "  "  Well,  Mr.  Ruskin 
has  instructed  me  to  tell  you  everything  you  care  to 
ask,  so  I  shall  break  no  confidence  if  1  show  you 
these  accounts.  For  instance,  from  the  new  edition 
of  '  The  Stones  of  Venice '  Mr.  Ruskin  has  received 
already  ^1,583  clear  profits,  besides  leaving  1,272 
copies  unpaid  for."  *  "  Is  that  his  greatest  success  ?  " 
"  I  cannot  say  yet,  for  the  edition  was  only  published 
last  year.  So  far,  I  think,  '  The  Seven  Lamps  of 
Architecture '  has  done  best.  The  author's  clear  profits 
from  the  editions  I  have  published  of  that  book  have 
amounted  to  close  upon  _^2,5oo.  t  But  without  going 
into  further  details,  1  may  tell  you  that  last  year  (1886) 
I  was  able  to  pay  over  to  Mr.  Ruskin,  as  his  profit, 

*  Mr.  Ruskin's  profit  on  the  new  edition  of  "  Stones  of 
Venice"  up  to  the  end  of  18S9  was  altogether  ;f 3,069, 
i.e.,  since  the  book  was  pubh'shcd,  in   1886. 

t  /^3,20o  between  1880  and  1889. 


MR.  RUSKIN  AND  THE  BOOKSELLERS.    1 93 

_^4,ooo.  And  to  tliat  you  should  add  the  fact  that 
during  the  year  we  greatly  increased  the  value  of  his 
stock — as,  for  instance,  by  the  new  edition  of  '  The 
Stones  of  Venice."  We  have  paid  all  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction, and  the  profits  on  it  will  come  steadily  in." 
It  will  be  seen  that  IWr.  Ruskin's  royalties,  if  one  puts 
his  profits  that  way,  are  extraordinarily  large.  Thus, 
2,000  copies  of  the  "Seven  Lamps,"  at  ^l  is.,  brought 
him  a  clear  profit  of  ^991,  equivalent  to  a  royalty  of 
10.?.  a  copy.  And  this,  so  far  as  I  examined,  was 
about  the  average  rate.  Thus,  to  take  a  cheaper 
book,  I  noticed  that  3,000  copies  of  "  .Sesame  and 
Lilies,"  at  c,s.,  brought  him  in  ^345. 

"  And  what,  if  I  may  ask,  is  your  own  arrangement 
as  publisher  with  Mr.  Ruskin  ?"  "I  first  published  for 
him  simply  on  commission.  This  arrangement  lasted 
till  the  end  of  1886.  Since  then  I  have  worked  under 
an  agreement  for  proportionate  profits." 

"You  have  given  me  some  figures  of  the  profits  on 
various  books  ;  can  you  give  me  any  of  the  sales,  to 
show  their  comparative  popularity?"  Mr.  Allen  readily 
complied  with  my  request,  and  drew  up  the  following 
table,  showing  the  sales  during  i886  of  some  of  the 
more  popular  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  books  : — 

Volumes.* 
"  Sesame  and  Lilies  "  (small  edition)  .         .     2,122 

"  Frondes  Agrestes  " 1,273 

"The  Stones  of  Venice"   (large   edition), 

first  half-year  of  issue  .         .         .         .'       939 
"  Unto  This  Last  " 874 

*  For  18S9  the  figures  are  2,902,  1,038,  218,  775,  703, 
503.  514,  334,  613,  105,  29S. 

13 


194       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 


Volumes. 

"  Ethics  of  the  Dust  " So8 

"  Fors  Clavigera  "  (volumes  of)   .        .        .  730 

"  The  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture  "  .         .  668 

"  Modern  Painters,"  Vol.  II.  (small  edition)  652 
"The  Stones  of  Venice"  (small  travellers' 

edition,  in  two  vols.),  each    .         .        .  675 

"  On  the  Old  Road,"  first  year     ...  597 

"  King  of  the  Golden  River  "...  388 


The  "  King  of  the  Golden  River, '  it  may  be  interesting 
to  add,  is  largely  bought  by  the  London  and  Sheffield 
School  Boards  for  prizes.  Mr.  Ruskin's  "  Letter  to 
Young  Girls  "  has  also  a  large  sale,  264  packets  (con- 
taining 3,i6S  copies  in  all")  having  been  sold  during 
last  year  (1886). 

With  regard  to  the  "  Revised  Series  "  of  Mr.  Ruskin's 
works,  the  following  were  the  sales  during  1SS6: — 


"  Sesame  and  Lilies  "   . 
"  The  Crown  of  Wild  Olive 
"  The  Queen  of  the  Air  " 
"  The  Eagle's  Nest  "      . 
"  The  Two  Paths  " 
"  Time  and  Tide  " 
"  Munera  Pulveris" 
'  "  V'al  d'Arno  " 
'  "  Aratra  Pentclici  " 
"  '  A  Joy  for  Ever"' 
'  "y\rindne  Florentina" 


188 
108 
104 
96 
89 
73 
54 
53 
5' 
40 


Tliis  series,  it  should  be  staled,   is  a  very  expensive 
one,  the  ordinary  volumes  costing  J^s.  each  (unbound), 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    THE    BOOKSELLERS.         1 95 

the  illustrated  (marked  above  with  an  asterisk)  22s.  6d. 
These  volumes  are,  however,  all  in  course  of  being 
issued  in  cheap  form,  similar  to  the  small  "  Sesame 
and  Lilies." 

From  the  sales  the  conversation  turned  to  the  buyers. 
"Where,"  I  asked,  "do  your  customers  come  from?" 
"  From  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  but  more  from  Scot- 
land and  the  north  than  from  the  south,  excepting 
London.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  too,  that  I  send  very 
much  fewer  books  to  O.xford  than  to  Cambridge ;  a 
prophet  is  of  no  honour,  I  suppose,  in  his  own  univer- 
sity. The  circulating  libraries  do  not  patronize  us  at 
all,  with  the  exception  of  Mudie's,  which  takes  perhaps 
fifty  of  each  of  the  smaller  works  in  the  course  of  the 
year.  Lately  the  orders  from  the  Continent  and  the 
colonies  (especially  Australia)  have  very  much  in- 
creased." "America,  I  suppose,  lives  on  its  pirated 
editions  ?  "  "  Yes,  and  tries  to  export  them  sometimes. 
I  remember  we  were  lately  asked,  as  a  special  favour,  to 
pass  through  a  set  of  American  editions  for  a  celebrated 
traveller.     The  matter  was  referred  to  Mr.  Ruskin,  who 

replied  that  '  Mr.   had  much  better  not  burden 

himself  with  stolen  property  on  his  missionary  expedi- 
tion. He  shall  certainly  not  do  so  with  permission  of 
mine.'" 

Since  the  foregoing  pages  were  first  written, 
the  new  edition  of  "Modern  Painters"  has  been 
published.  This  was  the  biggest  job  by  far 
that  his  present  publisher  has  undertaken.  The 
money  value  of  the  edition,  at  its  retail  price, 
was  not  far  short  of  ^20,000.     The  weight  of 


196       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIn's    WORK. 

the  special  hand-made  copies  was  over  six  tons. 
The  publication  of  any  book  of  these  dimensions 
would  be  a  heavj-  undertaking  ;  but  "  Modern 
Painters  "  is  a  portfolio  of  engravings,  as  well 
as  a  library  of  literature.  It  is  the  most  im- 
portant lof  all  Mr.  Ruskin's  literary  works,  but 
it  was  also,  in  its  original  form,  one  of  the  most 
elaborate  and  beautiful  collections  of  illustra- 
tions ever  issued.  Mr.  Allen  was  responsible, 
not  only  for  the  republication  of  the  book,  but 
for  the  reissue  of  these  illustrations,  compris- 
ing eighty-seven  full-page  engravings  and  over 
200  woodcuts.  Such  an  undertaking  would 
obviously  put  to  a  crucial  test  the  interesting 
experiment  in  publishing  which  Mr.  Ruskin 
initiated  now  nearly  twenty  years  ago.  I  ap- 
pend, therefore,  to  what  has  already  been  said 
this  further  description  of  a  second  visit  paid 
to  Orpington,  in  January,  1889  : — 

I  found  the  liousc  and  household  taxed  to  its  utter- 
most by  the  new  enterprise.  Indeed,  a  new  room  had 
been  specially  added  to  the  premises  to  stock  the  copies 
of  tills  bulky  book.  Nothing  in  any  of  the  largest  inib- 
lishing  houses  could  e.xcel  the  neatness  and  precision 
of  the  arrangements.  Indeed,  the  new  warehouse  in 
this  country  villa  on  the  Kentish  hills  reminded  me  of 
nothing  so  much  as  some  careful   housewife's  linen- 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    THE    BOOKSELLERS.         1 97 

closet— only  that  the  sheets  were  the  sheets  of  a  book. 
And  just  as  in  a  well-ordered  household  each  member 
has  a  daily  task  marked  out,  so  here  each  member  of 
Mr.  Allen's  helpful  family  has  his  share,  or  hers,  in  the 
work  of  publishing.     As  1  glanced  round  at  the  piles  of 
"  Modern  Painters  "  (each  set  of  six  volumes  weighing 
29  lbs.)  I  thought  it  would  be   hard   on   the  packer. 
Every  one  was  going  to  lend  him  a  hand,  but  even  so  it 
had  been  found  necessary  for  once  to  bring  in  outside 
help,  and  two  men  from   London   were  employed   in 
doing   up   the  parcels   for   distribution,  which   left   in 
special  vans,  direct  by  road,  to  the  principal  booksellers. 
"  Modern  Painters"  will  thus  be  Ruskinian  to  the  end, 
and  every  devout  purchaser  in  London  will  have  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  his  copy  came  byroad,  and 
not  by  rail. 

But  indeed  "  the  Masters"  ideals  have  been  adhered 
to  throughout  in  the  production  of  this  final  edition  of 
his  chief  work.     "  About  the  plates  I  shall  have  plenty 
to  tell  you  presently,"  said  Mr.  Allen ;  "  but  first  let  me 
say  that  the  binding  has  been  done  by  my  usual  binder, 
Mr.  Mansell ;  I  need  not  add  that  there  is  no  machine- 
stitching  about  it,  but  only  honest  hand-work.    With 
regard  to  the  printing  of  the  letterpress,  the  New  York 
Cn?/f  remarked  the  other  day  that  '  there  was  something 
very  attractive  in  the  idea  of  this  printing-house  in  the 
fields,  far  from  the  city's  rush  and  roar.     Instead  of  the 
compositor  snatching  a  hasty  lunch  at  his  case,  with  the 
smell  of  the  inky  rollers  in  his  nostrils  and  the  noise  of 
the  stone-paved  streets  in  his  ears,  he  may  step  outside 
of  the  composing-room  into  a  rose-perfumed  garden  at 
Orpington,  and  munch  his  meal  with  no  noise  to  dis- 
turb him  save  that  of  the  busy  bees  or  the  babbling 
brook.     And  how  much  better  work  he  can  do  amid 


198       SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN's    WORK. 

such  surroundings!  No  wonder  that  Ruskin's  books 
are  so  beautifully  printed  ! '  As  applied  to  us  here, 
this  is  of  course  incorrect,  for  m}'  printing  is  all  done 
by  Messrs.  Hazell,  Watson,  and  Viney,  at  Aylesbury ; 
but  in  substance  the  New  York  writer  was  not  far  wrong. 
Messrs.  Hazell's  place  at  Aylesbury  is  quite  an  ideal 
printing-office — with  light  and  cheerful  buildings,  allot- 
ment gardens,  recreation-ground,  clubs,  a  magazine, 
and  all  the  other  machinery  for  '  mutual  improvement.' 
You  may  care  to  know,  by  the  way,  that  this  edition  of 
'Modern  Painters'  took  over  5oo  reams  of  paper  for  the 
ordinary  copies  ;  they  are  printed  on  specially  made 
toned  paper,  of  fine  surface  but  tough  texture,  which 
weighed  in  all  well  over  fifteen  tons.  The  hand-made 
paper  for  the  special  copies  was  also  made  by  Whatman 
expressly  for  this  book,  and  is  of  a  size  and  weight 
never  before  manufactured.  The  type,  too,  was  a  special 
fount,  cast  expressly  for  this  work,  and  indeed  the 
printing  has,  I  may  say,  been  done  throughout  quite 
regardless  of  cost." 

"This  is  even  more  the  case,"  continued  Mr.  .•\llcu, 
"  with  regard  to  the  printing  of  the  plates.  Mr.  Robert 
Smith,  to  whom  I  entrusted  the  work,  is  an  out-and-out 
good  and  honest  workman.  Curiously  enough,  he  was 
an  apprentice  to  the  printer  who  did  the  original  edition 
for  Messrs.  Smith  and  Elder,  and  he  was  as  anxious  as 
I  to  get  the  best  possible  results  from  each  plate.  I  do 
not  know  where  else  I  could  have  gone  to  get  equally 
good  work,  for  Mr  Smith  is  a  workman  himself,  and 
gives  close  and  continuous  personal  superintendence. 
Even  so,  some  of  the  delay  in  publishing  the  book  has 
been  due  to  the  difficulty  of  finding  a  sufficient  number 
of  conscientious  workmen.  Such  men  are  never  over- 
abundant, and  a  great  many  of  them  li;ive  been  drawn 


MR.    RUSKIN    AND    THE    BOOKSELLERS.         199 

off  by  Professor  Herkomer  to  his  workshops  at  Bushey. 
However,  I  have  not  stinted  Mr.  Smith  in  the  price,  and 
that  is  the  main  essential.  You  have  no  idea  of  the 
tricks  to  which  plate-printers  often  resort— and  neces- 
sarily—owing to  the  cutting  down  of  the  price:  the 
mixture  of  soft  soap  with  the  ink  is  one  way— so  a 
workman  told  me  himself— in  which  time  is  saved  and 
the  work  scamped." 

From   the   printing   of  the   plates   the   conversation 
turned  to  the  preparation  of  the  plates  themselves,  and 
here  the  curious  may  be  glad  of  some  detailed  particu- 
lars.     The   plates   in   the   new   edition   of    "Modern 
Painters"  maybe  divided  under  four  heads— (i)  new 
plates,  not  included  in  any  previous  edition ;  (2)  plates 
of  which  the  originals  have  been  destroyed,  and  which 
have   been    re-engraved   for   the  present   edition;  (3) 
plates  in  a  like  case  which  have  been  mechanically  re- 
produced ;  and  ( 4)  original  plates  retouched.    The  addi- 
tional plates  are  three  in  number,  and  it  is  these  which 
will  always  give  a  unique  value  among  collectors  to  the 
present  edition.     The  subjects  of  them  are  "  Chateau 
de   Blois,"   "Dawn   after  the  Wreck,"  and  "Lake   of 
Zug."     They  were  all  etched  by  Mr.  Ruskin  in  1859, 
from  Turners  drawings,  and  engraved  by  T.  Lupton. 
Intended   for  the   fifth  volume,   they  were  held   back 
owing  to  the  anxiety  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  father  to  see  tlie 
work  fairly  off  his  son's  hands.    The  re-cngravcd plates 
are  nine  in  number,  and  include  some  of  the  best-known 
illustrations   in    the    book,   such    as    "The    Lombard 
Apennine"   and   "Monte   Rosa."     Three  other  plates 
had  also  been  destroyed,  but  Mr.  Allen  fortunately  had 
in  his  possession  early  proofs  of  the  original  etchings, 
and  from  these  photogravures  have  been  executed  for 
the   present   edition  by  the   Goupil   process  (Messrs. 


200      SOME    ASPECTS    OF    MR.    RUSKIN  S    WORK. 

Boussod,  Valadon,  and  Co.).  "  Finally,  the  remaining 
plates  have  all  been  looked  to,"  said  Mr.  Allen,  "  with 
loving  care  by  myself  and  my  son  (Mr.  Hugh  Allen), 
both  in  retouching  where  necessary,  and  also  in  superin- 
tendence of  printing." 

Into  the  merits  of  the  new  edition  of  "  Modern 
Painters  "  I  need  not  enter,  for  most  of  my 
readers  have  no  doubt  formed  an  opinion  of 
their  own  by  personal  inspection.  But  in  con- 
cluding this  description  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  system 
of  publication,  and  with  it — for  the  present  at 
least — my  survey  of  his  work  in  some  of  its 
aspects,  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  record  that 
the  edition  has  been  a  great  commercial  success. 
Mr.  Ruskin's  profits  from  this  one  issue  of  a 
single  book  will  not  in  the  end  be  less  than 
£6,000.  Hitherto  he  has  suffered  badly  from 
the  American  pirates.  Though  his  American 
readers  are  numbered  by  tens  of  thousands,  he 
has  never  received  a  penny  fiom  them  ;  but  the 
cheaper  editions  of  many  of  his  books  which 
Mr.  Allen  is  now  bringing  out  will  doubtless  do 
something  to  undermine  the  pirate's  trade.  But 
even  now  Mr.  Ruskin's  profits  are  steadily  grow- 
ing every  year,  and  exceed,  I  imagine,  those 
made  by  any  other  serious  author  of  the  time. 


MR.  RUSKIN  AND  THE  BOOKSELLERS.    201 

His  system  of  publishing  "in  the  wilds  of  Kent" 
has — like  most  other  schemes  of  his  devising — 
been  derided  as  unpractical,  visionary,  and  mad. 
On  closer  inspection  does  there  not  seem  to  be 
some  method  in  Mr.  Ruskin's  mad  work  ? 


APPENDICES. 

CONTAINING  NOTES   ON    MR.    RUSKIN'S 
OXFORD   LECTURES. 


APPENDIX    I. 
"Readings  in   'Modern  Painters:'   1877." 

The  first  course  of  Lectures  which  I  heard 
Mr.  Ruskin  deliver  at  Oxford  was  one  given 
in  Michaelmas  term,  1877.  The  lectures,  which 
he  called  "  Readings  in  '  Modern  Painters,'"  were 
conversational  and  informal  ;  and  the  following 
notes  embody  only  some  casual  reminiscences. 
As,  however,  the  lectures  were  thoroughly  cha- 
racteristic of  their  author,  even  my  imperfect 
notes  may  be  of  interest  to  some  readers.* 

The  three  great  principles   of  Art  are,   Mr. 

*  Writing  at  the  end  of  this  course  to  Miss  Beever,  Mr. 
Ruskin  said,  "  I  write  first  to  you  this  morning  to  tell  yon 
that  I  gave  yesterday  the  twelfth  and  last  of  my  course  of 
lectures,  this  term,  to  a  room  crowded  by  six  hundred  people, 
two-thirds  members  of  the  University,  and  with  its  door 
wedged  open  by  those  who  could  not  get  in  ;  this  interest 
of  theirs  being  granted  to  me,  I  doubt  not,  because  for  the 
first  time  in  Oxford  I  have  been  able  to  speak  to  them 
boldly  of  immortal  life.  I  intended  when  I  began  the 
course  only  to  have  read  'Modern  Painters' to  them;  but 
when  I  began,  some  of  your  favourite  bits  interested  the 
men  so  much,  and  brought  so  much  larger  a  proportion  of 
undergraduates  than  usual,  that  I  took  pains  to  re-inforce 
and  press  them  home  ;  and  people  say  I  have  never  given 
so  useful  a  course  yet  "  ("  Hortus  Inclusus,"  p.  47). 


206  APPENDIX    1. 

Ruskin  said,  these  :  First,  that  the  life  of  Art 
is  in  Religion  ;  secondly,  its  food,  in  the  ocular 
and  passionate  love  of  nature ;  thirdly,  its 
health,  in  the  humility  of  the  artists.  To  these 
three  essential  Truths  he  went  on  to  oppose 
three  popular  Fallacies,  corresponding  to  them  ; 
namely,  y//'s/,  that  the  life  of  Art  is  in  Sensu- 
ality ;  secondly,  its  food,  in  the  telescopic  and  dis- 
passionate examination  of  nature  ;  and  thirdly, 
its  health,  in  the  pride  and  riches  of  the  artist. 
In  architecture,  too,  the  lecturer  laid  down  three 
canons  ;  namel}',  first,  that  the  material  should 
be  good  and  true  ;  secondly,  the  ornament, 
natural  ;  and  thirdly,  the  designer,  left  free  to 
work  from  his  heart. 

"Readings  from  'Modern  Painters'"  led  to 
few  opportunities  for  enlarging  on  these  architec- 
tural canons,  and  the  major  part  of  the  lecturer's 
running  commentar}'  was  devoted  to  illustrating 
one  or  other  of  the  three  Principles  of  Art. 
More  especiallj'  did  the  lecturer's  mind  appear 
to  be  running  on  the  artistic,  as  opposed  to  the 
scientific  way  of  viewing  nature.  The  true 
artist,  he  said,  if  he  wishes  to  paint  a  dog,  looks 
at  him  and  loves  him  ;  now  we  vivisect  him. 
Yet  true  science — true  knowledge  of  an}'  living 
creature — begins  in  the  love  of  it,  not  in  dissec- 
tion. The  mere  sight  of  this  museum  (see  p.  47), 
he  said,  with  its  specimens  of  death  and  disease, 
instead  of  life  and  health,  paralyzes  me  in  all 
artistic  work.  The  fact  is,  though  modern 
science  forgets  it,  that  sight  is  spiritual  as  well 
as  physical.     The  pleasure  of  modern  science 


"readings  in  'modern  painters:'  1877."   207 

is  the  pride  of  seeing  more  by  instruments  than 
common  people  can  with  the  naked  eye.  Of 
the  two  dominant  schools  in  the  University,  one 
despises  Nature,  the  other  despises  God.  Man's 
eye  sees  through  his  soul.  But  nowadays  sight 
has  become  mechanical.  Instead  of  learning  to 
sketch,  we  buy  photographs  ;  instead  of  loving 
the  poets,  we  try  to  imitate  them.  Natural 
Philosophy  exultingly  hopes  to  be  able  to  turn 
on  God ;  and  already  we  read  of  a  tolling  ma- 
chine erected  in  Ealing  Cemetery,  at  a  cost  of 
i^8o,  the  sexton,  like  a  miller  at  his  dam,  turn- 
ing on  lamentation. 

Students  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  works  will  remem- 
ber many  passages  in  which  several  of  the 
aphorisms  thrown  out  in  these  Oxford  Lectures 
have  been  expanded  or  illustrated  ;  and  I  pass 
now  to  one  or  two  notes  on  the  third  Principle 
of  Art  laid  down  above.  The  health  of  Art 
consists  in  the  humility  of  the  artist.  I  have 
in  my  possession,  said  Mr.  Ruskin,  Turner's 
receipt  for  i^28  'js.,  paid  for  three  drawings  of 
Florence.  One  of  these  would  now  fetch  from 
;£'500  to  ;^8oo.  The  high  prices  now  paid  for 
pictures  are  the  cause  of  the  hurry  in  modern 
work.  A  man  can  resist  a  bribe  of  nine  guineas, 
but  not  so  easily  one  of  /i"2,ooo.  Even  here  in 
Oxford  the  leaven  of  pride  and  riches  is  at  work. 
The  peace  of  Isis  is  disturbed  by  shouts  of 
ambition,  and  all  ambition  is  shamelul.  No 
natural  beauty  can  be  seen  through  a  shameful 
passion.  It  was  want  of  compassion,  said  Mr. 
Ruskin,  which  often  made  me  fail  to  appreciate 


308  APPENDIX    I. 

Turner's  work,  for  he  painted  always  in  pitj' 
or  joy. 

The  illustration  from  his  earlier  writings  of 
the  Principles  of  Art  above  described  was  one 
of  the  threads  which  kept  together  this  discur- 
sive course  of  "  Readings  in  '  Modern  Painters.' " 
Another  was  the  explanation  of  the  origin  and 
object  of  that  great  book.  The  first  volume  of 
it  was,  he  said,  an  expansion  of  a  long  letter  in 
defence  of  Turner.  About  i  S40  a  marked  change 
took  place  in  Turner's  style.  The  change  is  to 
be  seen  in  the  "Rivers  of  France,"  and  was  from 
yellow  and  grey  to  truth  in  colour.  The  central 
idea  of  the  defence  of  Turner,  as  contained  in 
"Modern  Painters,"  was  that  sight  depends  on 
the  soul,  and  that,  said  Mr.  Ruskin,  I  have  shown 
you  to  be  entirely  true.  But  I  wanted  more 
knowledge  to  make  the  essay  reall}'  efTective, 
and  by  the  time  I  had  got  the  knowledge  the 
period  of  public  reprobation  had  begun.  I  am 
ashamed  now  of  the  aflected  style  of  the  volume. 
Subsequently  I  read  Carlylc,  and  succeeded  in 
catching  something  of  his  rhythm.  lam  ashamed 
too  of  my  pretended  systems.  Plato,  added  Mr. 
Ruskin,  in  an  excursus  at  this  point,  threw  out 
systems  like  the  gleam  on  foam ;  Herbert  Spencer 
throws  them  out  like  boys  blowing  bubbles  full 
of  dirty  air.  After  all,  my  system  onlj'  amounted 
to  this :  "  The  picture  must  be  done  well,  the 
thing  must  be  i^retty,  and  the  motive  good." 
Mj'  denial,  in  the  first  volume,  of  the  delight 
in  "ideas  of  power"  was  wrong  too.  Venera- 
tion, desire  for  exertion,  aiul  sympathy  are  all 


"  READINGS  IN   'MODERN   PAINTERS:'    I  877."     209 

involved  in  "ideas  of  power,"  and  are  all  legiti- 
mate elements  of  delight. 

This  self-criticism  of  "  Modern  Painters  "  was 
afterwards  written  down  by  Mr.  Ruskin  in  the 
new  edition  of  the  second  volume.  But  in 
these  Oxford  Lectures  it  was  carried  out  with 
a  bantering  humour  of  which  no  notes  can 
convey  much  impression.  I  remember  in  par- 
ticular one  lecture  which,  setting  out  from  a 
criticism  of  passages  in  some  of  his  earlier  books, 
resolved  itself  into  a  discourse  upon  style.  He 
read  to  us  first  the  passage  from  the  "  Seven 
Lamps  " — one  of  the  best  known  of  his  "  purple 
patches " — which  1  have  already  quoted  (see 
p.  209).  With  this  passage  he  bade  us  com- 
pare the  following  from  "Unto  This  Last," 
which  he  read  with  fervid  emphasis  : — 

"  And  if,  on  due  and  honest  thought  over  these  things, 
it  seems  that  the  kind  of  existence  to  which  men  are 
now  summoned,  by  every  plea  of  pity  and  claim  of  right, 
may,  for  some  time  at  least,  not  be  a  luxurious  one  ; 
consider  whether,  even  supposing  it  guiltless,  luxury 
would  be  desired  by  any  of  us,  if  we  saw  clearly  at  our 
sides  the  suffering  wliich  accompanies  it  in  the  world. 
Luxury  is  indeed  possible  in  the  future — innocent  and 
exquisite ;  luxury  for  all,  and  by  the  help  of  all ;  but 
luxury  at  present  can  only  be  enjoyed  by  the  ignorant ; 
the  cruellest  man  living  could  not  sit  at  his  feast,  unless 
he  sat  blindfold.  Raise  the  veil  boldly ;  face  the  light ; 
and  if,  as  yet,  the  light  of  the  eye  can  only  be  through 
tears,  and  the  light  of  the  body  through  sackcloth,  go 
thou  forth  weeping,  bearing  precious  seed,  until  the  time 
come,  and  the  kingdom,  when  Christ's  gift  of  bread 
and  bequest  of  peace  shall  be  unlo  tin's  last  as  unto 
thee ;  and  when,  for  earth's  severed  multitudes  of  the 
wicked  and  the  weary,  there  shall  be  holier  reconcilia- 
tion than  that  of  the  narrow  home,  and  calm  economy, 

14 


2IO  APPENDIX    I. 

where  the  Wicked  cease — not  from  trouljle,  but  from 
troubling — and  the  VVearj'  are  at  rest." 

Compare  those  two  passages  carefully,  he 
said,  and  you  will  know  for  ever  afterwards  the 
difference  between  bad  and  good  st3'le.  Note 
in  particular,  he  added,  first,  that  the  art  which 
in  the  earlier  passage  is  obvious  at  every  point 
is  in  the  later  one  hardly  visible  at  all ;  ars  cs/ 
celare  artcm ;  and  secondly,  that  no  word  in 
the  later  passage  could  be  changed  without  loss 
of  meaning.  There  is,  indeed,  one  alliteration 
("/iiea  of />it3'"),  but  the  word  plea  was  the 
inevitably  right  word  in  its  place.  In  my  early 
works  I  used  to  hunt  about  for  alliterations  for 
their  own  sake.  What  makes  Carpaccio's  art  so 
great — Carpaccio  had  recentlj'  been  discovered 
by  Mr.  Ruskin  as  the  greatest  of  painters,  and 
there  were  several  pas.sing  allusions  to  him  in 
these  lectures — is  that  it  is  hidden. 

I  find  among  my  notes — scattered  and  dis- 
cursive, even  as  were  the  lectures — the  following 
few  disjointed  aphorisms  and  sentences  which 
may  be  set  down  as  they  come : — 

Science  is  bad  Knghsh  which  vanishes  when  it  is 
translated. 

The  modern  stage  is  ruined  by  its  realization  ol' 
scenery,  which  is  contrary  to  all  noble  art.  A  picture, 
whether  on  canvas  or  on  the  stage,  should  give  an  idea, 
not  its  realization. 

Stacy  Marks  has  produced  the  first  jierfect  pictures 
of  birds  ;  Coi^ley  Fielding  produced  the  best  picture  of 
a  moor;  Burue  Jones  is  our  oidy  living  real  artist. 

We  can  only  discern  spiritual  nature  so  far  as  we 
are  like  it. 

To  speak  of  "  natural "  and  "  supernatural "  is  like 
calling  the  organic  "super-mineral." 


APPENDIX    II. 
"The  Pleasures  of  England:"   1884. 

The  second  complete  course  of  Mr.  Ruskin's 
Oxford  Lectures  which  I  had  the  privilege  of 
attending  was  the  one  on  "The  Art  of  England." 
Of  these  1  took  full  notes  at  the  time,  for  publi- 
cation in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette ;  but  the  lectures 
had  been  carefully  prepared,  and  the  printed 
volume  hardly  differs  at  all  from  the  spoken 
lectures.  There  would,  therefore,  be  no  point 
in  republishing  my  notes.  With  the  lectures 
entitled  "  The  Pleasures  of  England,"  which  I 
similarly  reported,  the  case  is  different.  The 
course  had  clearly  not  been  so  carefully  pre- 
pared, nor  was  the  lecturer's  line  of  thought  so 
closely  reasoned,  as  in  "  The  Art  of  England." 
My  reports  took  the  form,  therefore,  of  "  digested 
plans  "  (so  Mr.  Ruskin  was  kind  enough  to  call 
them),  "  summarizing  a  line  of  thought  not  al- 
ways by  me  enough  expressed,  and  completing 
and  illustrating  it  from  other  parts  of  mj'  books, 
often  more  fully  than,  against  time,  1  could  do 
myself."  Accordingly  I  reprint  these  reports 
here  in   their   original  form,  in  the  hope  that 


212  APPENDIX    II. 

they  may  be  found  by  a  reader  here  and  there 
to  serve  as  useful  companions  to  the  printed 
lectures. 


Lecturk  I. 

"  Blrtha  to  Osburga  :    the  Pleasures 
OF  Learning." 

{Pall  Mall  Gazette,  October  20th,  1S84.) 

The  course  of  lectures  which  Mr.  Ruskin  pro- 
poses to  give  in  Oxford  this  term,  and  the  first 
of  which  was  delivered  on  Saturday,  is  intended 
to  trace  in  rough  outline  the  whole  history  of 
England  as  written  in  her  art. 

The  Fill n IT  of  Eiiglaiitl. 

Mr.  Ruskin's  history,  it  need  hardly  be  said, 
has  a  purpose  and  a  moral  ;  and  the  object  of 
his  survey  of  English  art  is,  he  stated  at  the  out- 
set on  Saturday,  to  show  what  those  of  us  who 
have  faculty  should  do,  and  those  of  us  who  have 
sensibility  should  admire.  "  Such  action  and 
such  feeling  may  even  yet  create  a  future  for 
England  which  all  of  you  may  hopefull}'  and 
proudly  labour  for,  and  some  of  you  even  see, 
when  all  the  tumult  of  vain  avarice  and  idle 
pleasure  has  gone  to  its  appointed  perdition." 
Wherein  his  hope  for  the  future  of  England 
lies  Mr.  Ruskin  expounded  in  eloquent  words, 
written  several  years  ago,  whicii,  as  being  "the 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     I884.      213 

most  pregnant  and  essential"  of  all  his  profes- 
sorial teachings,  he  repeated  on  Saturday  : — 

"  There  is  a  destiny  now  possible  to  us — the  highest 
ever  set  before  a  nation  to  be  accepted  or  refused.  We 
are  still  undegenerate  in  race :  a  race  mingled  of  the 
best  northern  blood.  We  are  not  yet  dissolute  in  tem- 
per, but  still  have  the  firmness  to  govern  and  the  grace 
to  obey.  We  have  been  taught  a  religion  of  pure  mercy, 
which  we  must  either  now  finally  betray,  or  learn  to  de- 
fend by  fulfilling.  And  we  are  rich  in  an  inheritance  of 
honour,  bequeathed  to  us  through  a  thousand  years  of 
noble  history,  which  it  should  be  our  daily  thirst  to  in- 
crease with  splendid  avarice,  so  that  Englishmen,  if  it 
be  a  sin  to  covet  honour,  should  be  the  most  offending 
souls  alive.  Within  the  last  few  years  we  have  had  the 
laws  of  natural  science  opened  to  us  with  a  rapidity 
which  has  been  blinding  by  its  brightness  ;  and  means 
of  transit  and  communication  given  to  us,  which  have 
made  but  one  kingdom  of  the  habitable  globe.  One 
kingdom  ; — but  who  is  to  be  its  king  ?  Is  there  to  be  no 
king  in  it,  think  you,  and  every  man  to  do  that  which  is 
right  in  his  own  eyes?  or  only  kings  of  terror,  and  the 
obscene  empires  of  Mammon  and  Belial  ?  Or  will  you, 
youths  of  England,  make  your  country  again  a  roj'al 
throne  of  kings  ;  a  sceptred  isle ;  for  all  the  world  a 
source  of  light,  a  centre  of  peace  ;  mistress  of  Learning 
and  of  the  Arts  ;  faithful  guardian  of  great  memories,  in 
the  midst  of  irreverent  and  ephemeral  visions  ;  faitht\il 
servant  of  time-tried  principles,  under  temptation  Irom 
fond  experiments  and  licentious  desires  ;  and  amidst 
the  cruel  and  clamorous  jealousies  of  the  nations,  wor- 
shipped in  her  strange  valour,  of  goodwill  towards 
men?' 


Hisfoiy  Written  in  Art. 

Fifteen  years  have  passed  since  Mr.  Ruskin 
wrote  those  words,  and  he  has  not  lost  hope  in 


214  APPENDIX    II. 

the  interval ;  on  the  contrarj',  he  is  more  than 
ever  convinced  that  there  has  been  "  no  time, 
in  all  the  pride  of  the  past,  when  their  country 
might  more  serenely  trust  in  the  glor^-  of  her 
j'OLith,  when  her  prosperity  was  more  secure  in 
their  genius,  or  her  honour  in  their  hearts." 
What,  then,  are  the  young  men  and  maidens  of 
England  to  do  to  carry  out  these  hopes  ?  That 
may  best  be  learned,  said  Mr.  Ruskin,  by  con- 
sidering whether  London  be  indeed  "  the  natural 
and  Divinely  appointed  produce  of  the  valle}'  of 
the  Thames  ; "  and  if  not,  how  far  it  may  be 
altered  by  our  acts  and  our  thoughts.  Mr. 
Ruskin  has  said  before  (in  his  preface  to  the 
translation  of  Xenophon's  "Economics"  in 
"  Bibliotheca  Pastorum  ")  that  all  right  educa- 
tion should  include  the  history  of  five  cities — 
Athens,  Rome,  \'enice,  Florence,  and  London. 
The  history  of  Athens,  rightly  understood, 
teaches  all  that  we  need  to  know  of  the  religion 
and  art  of  Greece  ;  that  of  Rome,  the  victory  of 
Christianity  over  barbarism  ;  that  of  Venice  and 
Florence,  all  that  is  essential  in  Christianity,  as 
illustrated  by  Christian  painting,  sculpture,  and 
architecture  ;  that  of  London,  with  its  sister 
Paris,  Christian  chivalry  expressed  in  Gothic 
architecture.  Mr.  Ruskin  had  once  hoped  to 
write  the  history  of  these  five  cities,  and  it  is 
the  history  of  London,  understood  in  this  man- 
ner, that  he  proposes  to  tell  in  the  present 
course  of  lectures — the  historj',  that  is  to  say, 
ff  the  English  and  French  nations,  as  expouiuiicl 
in    llicir   arcliit((  lure,  their   illuminated  manu- 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     I884.      2I5 

scripts,  and,  in  a  minor  degree,  their  jewellery 
and  other  lesser  arts.  The  change  in  the  title 
of  his  lectures  is  significant  of  this  historical 
purpose.  "  Hitherto  in  all  my  writings  I  have 
considered  art  solely  in  relation  to  the  personal 
temper  of  the  artist,  and  so  I  have  simply  told 
you  that  you  ought  to  like  Turner  and  dislike 
Salvator  Rosa,  without  ever  considering  what 
your  own  instinct  or  genius  would  prompt  you 
to  like  or  dislike.  In  this  course  Art  is  to  be 
looked  at  throughout  from  the  people's  side  ;  it 
is  to  be  asked  what,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they 
did  like  ;  and  hence  I  have  called  my  lectures 
'  The  Pleasures  of  England,'  instead  of,  as  be- 
fore,  '  The  Art  of  England.' 


t » 


"Learning"  and  "Teaching"  Nations. 

First  in  historical  order  among  these  pleasures 
comes  the  pleasure  of  learning — the  pleasure, 
that  is,  not  of  seeking  truth  for  oneself,  which 
is  a  completely  different  thing,  but  of  receiving 
instruction — a  pleasure  which  to  all  who  have 
the  grace  to  receive  is  extremely  sweet  and 
sacred.  It  is  a  pleasure,  though,  Mr.  Ruskin 
here  interposed,  which  can  hardly  find  a  place 
in  your  modern  theories,  "according  to  which 
you  turn  out  what  you  are  to  be  by  the  inevita- 
ble operation  of  what  is  within  you  ;  whereas 
the  old  theory  of  education  was  that  the  baby 
material  was  by  external  force  and  wisdom  bred 
■ — that  it  was  a  plastic  vase,  to  be  shaped  and 
mannered  as  the  potter  chose,  not  as  it  chose, 


2l6  APPENDIX    II. 

until  it  was  filled  with  sweetness  of  sound  doc- 
trine, like  H3'bla  honey  or  Arabian  spikenard." 
Now,  Athens  and  Rome  were  essentially  self- 
taught  cities,  but  London  and  Paris  are  essen- 
tially taught  by  others  : — 

■■  Yoii  find,  from  tlu-  earliest  times,  in  Greece  and  Italy 
a  multitude  of  artists  gradually  perfecting  the  knowledge 
and  representation  of  the  human  hody,  glorified  by  tlie 
exercises  of  war.  Yon  have,  north  of  Greece  and  Italy, 
innumerable  and  incorrigibly  savage  nations,  represent- 
ing, with  rude  and  irregular  ellorts,  on  huge  stones  and 
ice-borne  boulders,  on  cave  bones  and  forest  stocks  and 
logs,  with  any  manner  of  innocent  tinting  or  scratching 
possible  to  them,  sometimes  beasts,  sometimes  hobgob- 
lins, sometimes  Heaven  only  knows  what,  but  never 
attaining  any  skill  in  figure-drawing  until,  whetlier  in- 
vading or  invaded,  Greece  and  Italy  teach  them  what  a 
human  being  is  like ;  and  with  that  help  they  dream  and 
blunder  on  through  the  centuries,  achieving  many  fan- 
tastic and  amusing  things,  more  especially  tlie  art  of 
rhyming,  whereby  they  usually  express  their  notions  of 
things  far  better  than  by  painting.  Nevertheless,  in 
due  course  we  get  a  Holbein  out  of  them  ;  and  in  the 
end,  for  best  product  hitherto.  Sir  Joshua,  and  the 
supremely  Gothic  Gainsborough." 

B}'  "supremely  Gothic  Gainsborough''  Mr.  Rus- 
kin  e.xplained  that  he  meant,  not  that  Gains- 
borough painted  "  kings  and  saints  turning  up 
their  eyes,  such  as  you  buy  at  so  much  a  hun- 
dred, wherewith  to  ornament  your  pseudo-Gothic 
temples,"  but  that  in  his  portraits  the  face  was 
everytiiing,  the  body  nothing,  whereas  the  glory 
of  classic  art  is  always  in  the  body,  and  never 
in  the  face.  The  foregoing  summary  of  English 
art  may,    Mr.    Ruskin   added,  be   still    further 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     1 884.      21/ 

condensed  in  Carl3'lean  phrase  ;  and  the  art  of 
England  may  be  said  to  consist  of  three  whales' 
cubs  combined  by  boiling  under  the  orders  of 
the  Athena  of  Homer  and  Phidias.* 


Untaught  British  Art. 

Mr.  Ruskin  then  proceeded  to  summarize 
shortly  the  characteristics  of  the  learning  and 
teaching  nations  respectively.  The  Huns  and 
V'andals  he  passed  over,  as  being  merely  "  forms 
of  punishment  and  destruction,"  and  came  to 
immortal  nations  living  on  their  native  rocks 
and  unchanging  plains.  Of  the  learning  nations, 
the  British  have  the  deepest  love  of  external 
nature,  of  pure  music  and  song  ;  they  were 
deeply  religious,  but  neither  apprehensive  nor 
receptive.     "  I  do  not  speak  of  the  Celtic  race," 


*  "Mr.  Ruskin  incidentally  referred  again  on  Saturday 
(wrote  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  a  fortnight  later)  to  those 
'three  whale's  cubs  combined  by  boiling'  which  the  Satur- 
day Reviczv  found  so  hard  a  saying  as  only  to  be  accepted 
on  our  authority.  It  is  a  pretty  compliment,  but  one  which 
we  cannot  accept,  that  our  imprimatur  is  necessary  to  give 
currency  to  a  phrase  of  Carlyle's.  Mr.  Ruskin  was  quoting, 
of  course,  from  Friedrich,  where  Carlyle  describes  how  the 
Wends  *  set  up  their  god  Triglaph — a  three-headed  mon- 
ster of  which  I  have  seen  prints,  be3'ond  measure  ugly — 
something  like  three  whale's  cubs  cottibiiied  by  boiling  or  a 
triple  porpoise  dead  drunk.'  The  Wends  were  at  this  time 
(a.d.  I02j)  '  sturdy  heathens,"  and  their  representation  of 
Triglaph  was  very  appropriately,  therefore,  taken  by  Mr. 
Ruskin  as  typical  of  the  Northern  art,  which  was  subse- 
quentlv  to  be  touched  through  Christianity  by  '  the  spear 
of  Pallas.' " 


2l8  APPENDIX    II. 

Mr.  Ruskin  said,  "  because  I  should  now  be 
expected  to  say  Keltic,  and  I  don't  mean  to,  if 
onl}-  for  fear  that  I  should  next  be  required  to 
say  St.  Kekilia."  The  Normans  were  scarcely 
more  apprehensive,  but  had  more  constructive 
energy,  their  chief  characteristic  being  that  they 
never  spend  themselves  in  vain  anger,  or  pas- 
sion, or  sorrow  ;  they  are  like  the  living  rock, 
the}'  flow  like  lava,  and  congeal  like  granite. 
The  Saxons  and  Franks  are  docile,  imaginative, 
and  active,  but  with  difficulty  ration^.l,  and  rarely 
wise.  For  the  type  of  the  Ostrogoths  "  you 
may  take  the  German  Caesars,  still  standing  as 
a  barrier  against  the  license  and  insolence  of 
modern  Republican  Governments."  And  lastly, 
there  are  the  Lombards,  sternly  indocile,  gloomily 
imaginative  ;  for  the  Lombard,  like  the  Arabian, 
never  jests.  Of  Britisli  art  before  the  people 
were  touched  by  the  influence  of  the  tutor  nations 
there  is  no  well-sifted  account ;  but  they  must 
have  been  practical  builders  in  wood,  good  boat- 
builders,  skilful  in  sail-weaving,  with  knowledge 
of  stout  ironwork  and  copper  for  ornamentation. 
You  have  here  and  there  the  stones  of  their 
temples  standing  one  on  another  in  the  midst 
of  deserted  plains,  and  it  is  an  ever-increasing 
matter  of  wonder  to  me  that  your  historians 
never  ask  you  to  consider  what  you  might  have 
been  if  no  Roman  missionary  had  ever  passed 
the  Alps  in  cliarity,  and  no  English  king  in 
pilgrimage ;  what  the  clay  of  Isis  might  have 
yielded  if  it  had  never  been  touched  bj'  the 
spear  of  I'allas  and  the  rod  of  Agricola. 


'the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     1 884.      2I9 


History  Made  Easy. 

Mr.  Ruskin  then  passed  in  review  the  chief 
tutor  nations — "  nations  of  which  you  generally 
learn  only  the  corruptions,  though  it  were  better, 
surely,  if  you  must  choose,  to  learn  only  their 
virtues.  For  true  knowledge  is  only  of  good, 
in  which  alone  are  nature  and  life  ;  what  is  dis- 
eased, and  therefore  unnatural,  should  be  cut 
away  in  contemplation,  as  in  surgery."  Of 
these  tutor  nations,  the  Tuscan  and  the  Arab 
alone  had  no  influence  on  us.  For  the  influences 
of  the  others  you  must  look  at  the  work  of  Agri- 
cola  and  Constantius,  of  Benedict  and  Gregory  ; 
of  the  artists  of  Ravenna  and  Byzantium  ;  of 
the  teaching  of  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Chrysostom. 
Of  the  period  of  history  when  the  nations  were 
thus  learning  from  the  Syrians,  and  the  Greeks, 
and  the  Romans  I  can  give  you  (said  Mr. 
Ruskin)  "  a  few  binding  dates,  which  you  will 
find  more  practically  useful  than  the  inconse- 
quential sequences  which  form  the  index  of 
common  histories."  Another  department  of 
historical  study,  by  the  way,  was  considerably 
simplified  by  Mr.  Ruskin,  in  some  informal  re- 
marks, after  the  conclusion  of  his  written  lecture. 
Map-making  is  only  tiresome  when  you  trouble 
yourself  about  railways  leading  from  one  un- 
important place  to  another  ;  but  in  drawing  the 
map  of  England,  for  instance,  you  should  put 
in  London, and  Edinburgh,  and  O.xford,  and  Lan- 
caster, and  York,  and  Winchester — and  nothing 
else.     With  regard  to  the  dates,  from  the  Saxon 


220  APPENDIX    II. 

invasion  (ad.  449)  to  Alfred  (a.d.  849)  is  a 
period  of  exactly  four  hundred  years.  In  481 
Clovis  came  to  the  throne  ;  and  he  marries  Clo- 
tilde,  his  saint-queen,  in  the  year  (.-^.d.  493)  in 
which  Theodoric  wins  the  battle  of  Verona.  This 
is  the  historical  conjunction  which  Mr.  Ruskin 
has  described  in  the  "  Bible  of  Amiens  :  " — 


"  At  tlie  close  of  the  tiftli  century  you  liave  Europe 
divided  simply  by  her  watershed,  and  two  Cliristiau  kings 
reigning,  with  entirely  beneficent  and  healthy  power — 
one  in  the  north,  one  in  the  south,  the  mightiest  and 
worthiest  of  them  married  to  the  other's  youngest  sister, 
a  saint-(iueen  in  the  north — and  a  devoted  and  earnest 
woman,  (nieen-mother,  in  the  south.  It  is  a  conjunction 
of  things  memorable  enough  in  the  earth's  history,  much 
to  be  thought  of,  O  fast-whirling  reader,  il  ever  out  of 
the  crowd  of  pent-up  cattle  driven  across  Rhine  or  Adige 
you  can  extricate  yourself  for  an  hour,  to  walk  peacefully 
out  of  the  south  gate  of  Cologne,  or  across  Kva  Giocondo's 
bridge  at  Verona — and  so,  pausing,  look  through  the 
clear  air  across  the  battle-field  of  Tolbiac  to  tlie  blue  Dra- 
chenfels,  or  across  the  plain  of  St.  Ambrogio  to  the  moim- 
tains  of  Garda.  For  there  were  fought — if  you  will  think 
closely — the  two  victor-battles  of  the  Christian  world. 
Constantine's  only  gaveclianged  form  and  dying  colour 
to  the  falling  walls  of  Rome  ;  but  the  Frank  and  Gothic 
races,  thus  conquering  and  thus  ruled,  founded  the  arts 
and  established  the  laws  which  gave  to  all  futvire  Europe 
her  joy  and  her  virtue.  And  it  is  lovely  to  see  how, 
even  thus  early,  the  feudal  chivalry  depended  for  its 
life  on  the  nobleness  of  its  womanhood.  There  was 
no  vision  seen,  or  alleged,  at  Tolbiac.  Clovis  prayed 
simply  to  the  God  of  Clotilde." 


So  too  with  Theodoric.  His  marriage  with 
the  youngest  sister  of  Clovis  is  geiurally  dis- 
missed in  a  casual  sentence,  as  exhibiting  "  the 


1884.      221 

first  instance  of  a  definite  policy  of  domestic 
alliances  for  publicends."  Itis  not  asked  whether 
the  King,  who  on  the  morning  of  the  battle  of 
Verona  visited  his  mother  and  his  sister,  and 
"  requested  that  on  the  most  illustrious  festival 
of  his  life  they  would  adorn  him  with  the  rich 
garments  which  they  had  worked  with  their  own 
hands,"  would  be  a  man  to  marry  without  love  ; 
nor  is  it  considered  how  far  his  calmly  Christian 
justice  may  have  been  due  to  the  sympathy  and 
counsel  of  his  Frankish  Queen. 

The  Education  of  England  in  Old  Times. 

A  hundred  years  later  sees  the  marriage  of 
Ethelbert  and  Bertha,  signalizing  the  beginning 
of  erudition  and  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the 
beautiful  English  character.  Christianity  has 
been  Accepted ;  faith  from  St.  Augustine  (not  to 
be  confused  with  the  Bishop)  works  from  the 
rule  of  Benedict — St.  Augustine  teaching  all 
men  what  to  think  and  feel,  Benedict  what  to 
say,  and  be,  and  do  ;  and  henceforth,  for  three 
hundred  years,  "from  Bertha  to  Osburga,"  the 
Saxon  people  are  learning  of  the  Christian  faith 
the  humane  arts  and  duties  invented  and  incul- 
cated by  it.  This  is  the  history  which  is  to  be 
found  written  in  their  art,  and  especially  in  their 
illuminated  missals.  No  effect  whatever  can  be 
traced  on  the  Saxons  from  the  luxury  of  Rome 
or  from  her  art.  They  build  no  aqueducts  or 
theatres;  they  envy  no  vile  pleasures,  and  admire 
no  classic  art.     The  pages  of  a  Saxon  missal 


APPENDIX    II. 


are  the  first  example  of  the  representation  of 
immediatel}'  imagined  scenes.  The  contest  be- 
tween Herakles  and  H\'dra  on  a  Greek  vase  is 
a  mere  memorandum  ;  the  potter  is  busy  en- 
graving his  lines  with  due  regard  for  the  inter- 
vention of  the  handle.  The  Saxon  monk  scrawls 
his  figures  anywhere  and  everywhere  all  over 
the  page,  in  explanatory  scenes  of  inexpressible 
vision. 


Modem  English  Missionary  Enterprise. 

The  lesson  of  this  page  of  history — the  moral 
from  past  to  present — is  often  strangely  mis- 
read. The  late  Dean  of  Westminster,  standing 
thirty  years  ago  on  St.  Martin's  Hill,  at  Canter- 
bury, where  Bertha  praj'ed,  and  looking  down 
on  the  cathedral  where  once  stood  the  Roman 
church  given  by  Etlieibert  to  Augustine,  and 
on  the  missionary  college  built  on  the  ruins  of 
Augustine's  abbey,  found  the  prospect  one  of 
"the  most  inspiriting  in  the  world  ;  "  and  think- 
ing of  Augustine's  solitary  landing,  and  tlxe  sub- 
sequent missionary'  zeal  of  the  people  to  whom 
he  came,  was  minded  to  reflect  on  the  mighty 
results  which  may  follow  from  the  smallest  be- 
ginnings. "  To  this  Gregorian  chant  in  honour 
of  the  British  Constitution,  I  grieve,"  said  Mr. 
Ruskin,  "  but  am  compelled,  to  ofi'er  in  conclu- 
sion one  or  two  historical  objections.  '  From 
Bertha  to  Osburga '  the  Saxons  were  learning 
too  eagerly  to  take  to  preaching,  and  whatever 
Christianity  left   these   shores   were   not   from 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     1884.       223 

Thanet,  but  from  lona  ;  and  as  for  the  new 
'  Christianized  continents  '  that  have  arisen  in 
these  latter  days,  the  missionary  office  of  Eng- 
land in  Africa  and  America  has  chiefly  consisted 
in  stealing  lands  and  exterminating  their  in- 
habitants. Our  introduction  of  Christianity  in- 
to India  has  only  taught  the  natives  to  wear 
Paisley  shawls  instead  of  Cashmere ;  and  in 
Australasia  the  '  Christian  aid  '  that  we  have 
rendered  has  been  principally  to  help  pious 
farmers  to  convict  labour.  And  although  I  will 
take  Dean  Stanley's  word  for  it  that  thirty  years 
ago  the  prospect  from  St.  Martin's  Church  was 
one  of  the  cheerfullest  and  most  inspiriting  in 
the  world,  I  have  3'et  to  say  that  recent  progress 
has  so  accommodated  the  beauty  of  the  sur- 
roundings to  the  use  of  the  missionary  works 
above  described  that  the  view  of  Canterbury 
Cathedral  has  been  contracted  into  despised 
subservience  to  the  colossal  walls  of  an  all-visible 
county  gaol." 


Lecture  II. 

"Alfred  to  the  Confessor:   the  Pleasures 
OF  Faith." 

(Pall  Mall  Gazette,  October  27tli,  1S84.) 

Mr.  Ruskin  prefaced  the  second  chapter  of  his 
history  on  Saturday  by  noting  two  omissions  : 


224  APPENDIX    II. 

he  had  to  pass  by  the  influence  of  the  Scotrh 
missionaries  and  the  whole  of  the  Roman-British 
period.  The  former  omission  he  the  less  re- 
gretted because  the  facts  could  all  be  found  in 
Montalembert's  "  Les  Moines  d'Occident,"  where 
they  could  be  seen  better  through  a  nimbus  of 
sympathetic  enthusiasm  than  in  any  distortion 
of  them  by  the  fog  of  contemptuous  Rationalism. 

Tlie  Roiiiaii-BiilisJi  Period. 

Of  the  Roman-British  period,  Mr.  Ruskin's 
readers  would  find  a  carefully  digested  account 
in  the  forthcoming  number  of  "  Our  Fathers 
have  Told  Us,"  entitled  "Valle  Crucis."  Mon- 
talembert,  it  should  be  noticed,  is  entirely  blind 
to  the  conditions  of  Roman  virtue  which  ap- 
peared in  such  of  the  Emperors  as  Pertina.x, 
Carus,  or  Constantius,  and  denies  with  abusive 
violence  the  good  effect  of  Roman  law.  To  all 
of  which  no  better  answer  could  be  wanted  than 
that  St.  Benedict  and  St.  Gregory  were  both 
Roman  patricians,  and  Imogen  and  Cordelia 
Roman  ladies.  King  Lear  and  Cymbeline  both 
belong  to  this  period,  and  only  once— when 
Kent  exclaims,  in  the  first  scene  of  the  play, 
"  Now,  by  Apollo,  King,  Thou  swear'st  thy  gods 
in  vain  " — does  Shakespeare  throw  contempt  on 
the  Roman  gods.  Nor  is  it  without  significance 
that  the  richest  fighting  element  in  the  British 
army  to-day  is  to  be  found,  not  in  the  Saxons, 
but  amongst  the  Irish,  the  Highlanders,  and  the 
Cornishmen. 


'the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"    1884.       225 


The  Evidence  of  Alfred's  Penny. 

Having  thus  completed  his  survey  of  the 
sources  of  instruction  open  to  our  Saxon  fore- 
fathers, Mr.  Ruskin  went  on  to  answer  the 
question  propounded  in  his  first  lecture,  what 
London  would  have  been  like  if  the  nature  of 
the  flowers,  and  trees,  and  children  growing  by 
Thames-side  had  been  rightly  understood.  "  Of 
what  London  was  like  in  the  days  of  faith  I 
can  show  you,"  said  Mr.  Ruskin,  "one  piece  of 
artistic  evidence.  It  is  Alfred's  silver  penny, 
struck  in  London  mint.  The  character  of  a 
coinage  is  quite  conclusive  evidence  in  national 
history,  and  there  is  no  great  empire  in  progress 
but  tells  its  story  in  beautiful  coins.  Here  in 
Alfred's  penny — a  round  coin,  with  L.  O.  N.  D. 
L  N.  I.  A.  struck  on  it — you  have  just  the  same 
beauty  of  design,  the  same  enigmatical  arrange- 
ment of  letters,  as  in  the  early  inscription  which 
it  is  '  the  pride  of  my  life '  to  have  discovered 
at  Venice.  This  inscription  ('  the  first  words 
that  Venice  ever  speaks  aloud ')  is,  it  will  be 
remembered,  on  the  church  of  S.  Giacomo  di 
Rialto,  and  runs,  being  interpreted,  'Around 
this  temple  let  the  merchant's  law  be  just,  his 
weights  true,  and  his  covenants  faithful.'" 

A  Picture  of  "Old  London." 

What  the  buildings  of  that  old  London  were 
like  I  cannot  tell  you,  but  at  least  we  know  that 
its  groups  of  ships  and  sails  were  exceedingly 

15 


226  APPENDIX    II. 

beautiful.  No  doubt  your  ironclads  at  Ports- 
mouth now  are  extremelj-  beautiful  too ;  but 
the  Saxon  war-ships  lay  at  London's  shore,  and 
shone  bright  with  banner,  and  shield,  and  dragon 
prow.  You  may  be  happier,  but  you  are  not 
handsomer,  now,  with  your  penny  steamers 
crowded  with  shop-girls  and  shop-boys,  than 
in  the  old  days  when  "  the  coracles  of  the 
British  tribes,  the  galleys  of  Roman  armies, 
were  moored  in  the  Thames,  and  gave  to  Lon- 
don the  most  probable  origin  of  its  name — the 
City  of  Ships ;  when  clear,  swift  rivulets,  such 
as  the  Wall  Brook  and  the  Hole  Bourne,  de- 
scended from  the  higher  hills  through  winding 
valleys;  when  the  consecrated  springs  of  Clerken 
Well,  and  Holy  Well,  and  St.  Clement's  Well 
were  the  scene  of  many  a  sacred  and  festive 
pageant  which  gathered  round  their  green  mar- 
gins." "I  am  quoting,"  said  Mr.  Ruskin,  "from 
the  first  chapter  of  Dean  Stanlc3''s  '  Memorials 
of  Westminster ' — a  chapter  which  1  always  tell 
my  friends  who  praise  my  writing  that  I  would 
rather  have  written  than  any  of  my  own  books. 
But  had  I  been  able  to  paint  so  perfect  a  pic- 
ture, the  conclusions  I  should  have  drawn  would 
have  been  widely  dift'erent.  The  Dean  describes, 
indeed,  the  '  river  of  wells '  with  all  a  poet's 
joy,  but  like  a  true  modern  citizen  of  Belgravia, 
he  sees  '  a  quaint  humour  in  the  fact  that  the 
great  arteries  of  our  crowded  streets,  the  vast 
sewers  which  cleanse  our  habitations,  are  fed 
by  the  life-blood  of  those  old  and  living  streams ; 
that  underneath  our  tread  the  Tyburn,  and  the 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     1 884.       22/ 

Holborn,  and  the  Fleet,  and  the  Wallbrook  are 
still  pursuing  their  ceaseless  course,  still  minister- 
ing to  the  good  of  man,  though  in  a  far  differ- 
ent fashion  than  when  Druids  drank  of  their 
sacred  springs,  and  Saxons  were  baptized  in 
their  rushing  waters,  ages  ago.'  Now,  whatever 
sympathy  you  may  feel  with  the  entire  compla- 
cency in  the  past,  present,  and  future  which  is 
characteristic  of  Dean  Stanley,  I  would  at  least 
beg  you  to  observe  that  the  transmutation  ot 
holy  wells  into  sewers  has  spoiled  the  Thames 
as  a  salmon  stream,  from  which  once  a  year, 
even  as  late  as  1382,  one  of  the  London  fisher- 
men brought  in  a  salmon  for  St.  Peter,  and  took 
his  place  beside  the  Prior." 

Disbelief  in  Legends — "  Solvitur  Auibulando." 

"Dean  Stanley  sees,  again,  in  this  legend  of 
the  fish — containing  the  claim  established  by 
the  Abbots  of  Westminster  on  the  tithe  of  the 
Thames  fisheries — an  instance  of  'the  union  of 
innocent  fiction  with  worldly  craft  which  marks 
so  many  legends  both  of  Pagan  and  Christian 
times.'  A  capital  instance,  truly,  of  the  Lon- 
donian  thought  which  marks  so  many  of  the 
w-ell-meant  books  of  your  pious  metropolis. 
Let  me  say,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  fiction  of 
old  time  would  be  no  worse  than  that  of  to-day 
for  being  innocent  instead  of  guilty ;  and,  in 
the  second  place,  that  legends  are  not  fictions 
at  all,  but  are  the  true  record  of  impressions 
brought  into  bright  focus  by  action  under  the 


228  APPENDIX    II. 

impulse  of  faith."  "  Much  more,"  continued  Mr. 
Ruskin,  "  I  could  tell  you  of  the  reality  of  visions 
than  you  would  believe;  but  this  at  least  I  would 
say  to  you,  that  unless  you  try  the  rough  life 
of  Christian  ages,  you  cannot  judge  of  the  visions 
or  legends  that  resulted  from  it.  Because  3'ou 
have  feather  beds  instead  of  ferns  for  your  backs, 
carpets  instead  of  rushes  for  your  feet,  kickshaws 
instead  of  beef  for  your  eating,  and  drains  in- 
stead of  holy  wells  for  your  drinking,  therefore 
you  think  that  you  are  positively  the  cream  of 
creation.  Stay  in  those  pleasant  circumstances 
and  in  that  pleasant  delusion  if  you  will,  but  do 
not  accuse  your  rough-fed  and  rough-bred  fore- 
fathers of  bringing  back  a  false  report  from 
earth  and  sky  until,  like  them,  you  have  trodden 
the  earth  barefoot  and  looked  on  the  heaven  as 
they  did,  face  to  face.  Do  what  king  after  king 
of  them  did — put  rough  shoes  on  your  feet  and 
walk  to  Rome,  sleeping  by  the  road-side  when 
it  is  fine,  and  in  the  first  outhouse  you  can  find 
when  it  is  wet,  live,  as  you  travel,  on  onions  and 
water,  and  then  see  if  you  will  be  inclined  to 
believe  those  who  tell  you  that  your  exi)eriences 
b}-  the  way  are  either  poetry  or  fiction." 

The  '•Sialics  of  IVrsliiiiiiski:" 

Mr.  Ruskin  then  went  on  to  read  the  history 
of  London  in  the  stones  of  Westminster  Abbey 
— the  monument  of  the  personal  character  of  its 
founder,  and  the  shrine  and  throne  of  Englisii 
faith  and  truth — quoting  from  Dean  Stanley  the 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"    18S4.       229 

account  of  Edward's  vow  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to 
the  Apostle's  grave  ;  of  the  legend  of  the  Hermit 
of  Worcester,  who  charged  the  King,  in  the 
Apostle's  name,  to  establish  instead,  "  at  Thor- 
ney,  two  leagues  from  the  city,"  a  Benedictine 
monastery ;  the  legend  of  Edric  the  fisherman, 
and  his  wonderful  encounter  with  St.  Peter  ;  and 
finally  the  two  miracles  (of  the  cure  of  the  cripple, 
and  of  the  child  appearing  in  the  sacramental 
elements  to  the  King  Leofric  and  Godiva),  which 
still  further  endeared  the  little  chapel  of  St. 
Peter  to  the  Confessor.  After  describing  the 
architecture  and  plan  of  Edward's  Abbey,  Mr. 
Ruskin  read,  for  purposes  of  subsequent  depre- 
cation, Stanley's  general  reflections  on  the  story 
of  its  foundation,  in  which  the  Dean  speaks  of 
the  "fantastic  circumstances,"  taking  us  back 
into  "  a  world  of  poetry,"  and  of  the  "  childish 
and  eccentric  fancies  "  of  the  Confessor,  whose 
"opinions  and  prevailing  motives  were  such  as 
in  no  part  of  modern  Europe  would  now  be 
shared  by  any  educated  teacher  or  ruler." 

The  Age  of  Faith  not  the  Age  of  Poetry. 

"  First,  I  dispute  the  implied  statement,"  said 
Mr.  Ruskin,  "  that  the  age  of  faith  is  the  age 
of  poetry.  Surely  the  age  of  poetry  in  English 
historj'is  not  the  ageof  Bede,  but  that  of  Shake- 
speare. The  generation,  too,  which  has  seen 
'Hiawatha,'  and  George  Macdonald's  'Soul's 
Diary,'  and  Keble's  Hymns  might  fairly  claim  to 
be  an  age  not  destitute  of  religious  poetry.      But, 


230  APPENDIX    11. 

to  settle  the  matter  once  for  all,  take  the  follow- 
ing stor}'  from  Bede's  '  Life  of  Cuthbert,'  which 
tells  how  Cuthbert,  on  bidding  some  pilgrims 
farewell,  had  bidden  them  also  to  cook  a  certain 
goose  they  would  find  prepared  for  them.  The 
visitors,  finding  they  had  enough  of  their  own, 
and  to  spare,  went  on  their  way,  but  for  seven 
days  were  detained  bj'  contrary  winds,  and  yet 
"could  not  think  what  iault  they  had  committed." 
But  when  they  went  back  to  the  holy  father,  and 
he  found  that  the  goose  had  not  been  eaten,  he 
reproved  their  disobedience,  and  said, '  No  wonder 
that  the  storm  has  prevented  you.'  So  he  bade 
them  put  the  goose  into  the  cauldron.  And  lo, 
as  soon  as  the  kettle  began  to  boil  the  wind 
dropped  and  the  waves  were  still !  This  story, 
which  Bede  had,  he  tells  us,  '  not  on  chance 
authoritj-,  but  from  a  very  pious  and  reverend 
monk  who  was  present  at  the  time,'  1  give  you," 
said  Mr.  Ruskin,  "partly  as  an  illustration  of 
the  power  of  obedience,  but  chiefly  in  order 
that  we  may  hear  no  more  about  the  poetry  of 
the  age  of  Bede." 

The  Age  of  Faith  vol  "  Childish." 

'"  But  Dean  Stanley  tells  us,  in  the  second 
place,  that  it  was  an  '  artless  and  childish  '  age. 
On  the  contrary,  it  was  an  age  which  was 
eminently  productive  of,  eminently  under  the 
governance  and  guidance  of,  men  of  the  widest 
and  most  brilliant  faculties,  constructive  and 
speculative,  men  whose  acts  became  the  romance. 


"the    pleasures   of    ENGLAND:"    1 884.       23 1 

whose  thoughts  the  wisdom,  and  whose  arts  the 
treasure  of  a  thousand  years  of  futurity.  In 
illustration  of  this  point  Mr.  Rusliin  said— 

"Again  and  again  they  would  indeed  find  the  stream 
of  thfT  Gospel  contracting  itself  into  narrow  channels, 
and  appearing,  after  long-concealed  filtration  through 
veins  of  unmeasured  rock,  with  the  bright  resilience  of 
a  mountain  spring.  But  they  would  find  it  the  only 
candid,  and  therefore  the  only  wise,  way  of  research  to 
look  in  each  era  of  Christendom  for  the  minds  of 
culminating  power  in  all  its  brotherhood  of  nations,  and 
careless  of  local  impulse,  momentary  zeal,  picturesque 
incident,  or  vaunted  miracle,  to  fasten  their  attention 
upon  the  force  of  character  in  the  men  whom  over  each 
newly  converted  race  Heaven  visibly  sets  forth  its 
shepherds  and  kings,  to  bring  forth  judgment  and  victory. 
Of  these  he  would  name  to  them,  as  messengers  of  God 
and  masters  of  men,  five  monks  and  five  kings,  in  whose 
arms  the  life  of  the  world  lay  as  a  nursling  babe.  Let 
them  remember,  in  their  successive  order — of  monks, 
St.  Jerome,  St.  Augustine,  St.  Martin,  St.  Benedict,  and 
St.  Gregory  ;  of  kings,  Theodoric,  Charlemagne,  Alfred, 
Canute,  and  the  Confessor." 

"Ofthreeofthesemen,"Mr.  Ruskin continued, 
"  I  will  read  you  some  words  which  I  will  ask 
you  to  compare  with  whatever  is  best  and  most 
exalted  in  the  literature  of  to-day.  For  philo- 
sophy Mr.  Ruskin  recited  a  passage  from  St. 
Augustine's  '  Citie  of  God  ; '  for  Christian  prayer, 
Alfred's  expansion  of  the  words,  Fiat  voluntas 
tua :  and  for  Christian  poHty,  the  well-known 
letter  which  Canute  sent  to  England  from  Rome, 
'  that  all  the  people  of  my  realm  may  rejoice  in 
my  well  doing.'  What  think  you,  in  candour 
and  honour,"  Mr.  Ruskin  asked,  "you  youths 
of  enlightenment,  of  the  spirit  that  thus  animated 


232  APPENDIX    11. 

the  dark  ages  ?  Whatever  you  maj-  feel  respect- 
ing the  beauty  and  wisdom  of  the  words  I  have 
read  to  you,  be  assured  of  one  thing  above  all, 
that  they  were  sincere.  The  idea  of  diplomacy 
or  priestcraft  belongs  only  to  comparatively 
recent  times.  No  false  knight  or  lying  priest 
ever  prospered  in  the  '  dark '  ages ;  men  suc- 
ceeded only  by  following  openly  declared  pur- 
poses and  preaching  candidly  beloved  and 
trusted  creeds." 


The  Pleasures  of  Faitli. 

In  so  believing  and  loving  the}'  were  joyous 
as  well  as  sincere.  "  We  continually  hear," 
said  Mr.  Ruskin,  in  conclusion,  "  of  the  trials, 
and  sometimes  of  the  victories  of  faith,  but 
scarcely  ever  of  its  pleasures.  Yet  the  chief 
delight  of  all  good  men,  in  all  the  ages,  has 
been  in  recognizing  the  goodness  of  the  Master 
who  had  come  to  dwell  in  their  spirits.  In 
all  we  now  do  we  expose  ourselves  to  count- 
less miseries,  because  we  depend  only  on  our 
own  power,  and  choose  only  our  own  gratifica- 
tion— with  no  thought  of  working,  except  for 
ourselves  or  others  in  whose  welfare  we  are 
equally  selfishly  interested,  until  the  idea  of 
acting  with  any  other  object  has  come  to  be 
like  the  precentor's  invitation  to  a  company  of 
little  voice  and  less  practice  to  '  sing  to  the 
praise  and  glory  of  God.'  You  cannot  any 
longer  imagine  the  pleasures  of  faith,  perhaps, 
but  yoi!  can  assuredly  prove  them.     Simply  as 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"    1S84.       233 

a  philosophical  experiment,  adopt  the  principles 
of  Alfred  or  Augustine  for  a  year.  If,  then, 
you  are  no  happier,  at  least  you  will  be  able 
with  more  grace  and  more  modesty  to  be  of  the 
same  opinion  still.  If  you  are  minded  thus  to 
try,  begin  each  day  with  Alfred's  prayer ;  then 
set  to  work  with  no  thought  of  ambition,  or  gain, 
or  pleasure  more  than  is  appointed  you,  but 
with  a  steady  determination  to  do  something 
for  the  help  or  honour  of  your  country,  resolv- 
ing not  to  join  in  the  world's  iniquities,  nor  to 
turn  aside  from  its  miseries.  Live  thus,  and 
believe  that  with  a  swiftness  of  answer  pro- 
portionate to  the  truth  of  your  endeavour  the 
God  of  hope  will  fill  you  with  all  peace  and  joy. 
But  if  you  have  not  courage  nor  art  enough  to 
make  the  trial,  if  you  allow  yourselves  to  be 
hindered  by  the  wishes  of  your  friends,  or  the 
interest  of  your  families,  or  the  bias  of  your 
genius,  or  the  expectations  of  your  college,  or 
any  other  bow-wow-wow  of  this  wild  dog  of  a 
world,  then  for  very  shame  give  up  all  title  to 
be  free  or  independent,  and  recognize  yourselves 
for  the  slaves  you  are,  with  your  thoughts  put 
in  ward  to  j^our  bodies,  and  your  hearts  bound 
in  manacles  to  your  hands ;  then,  for  very 
shame,  if  you  cannot  believe  that  there  were 
once  men  who  gave  their  souls  to  God,  know 
and  confess  how  surely  there  are  those  who  sell 
themselves  to  His  adversaries." 


234  APPENDIX 


Lecture  III. 


"The  Confessor  to  Cceur-de-Lion  : 
THE  Pleasures  of  Deed." 

(Pall Mall  Gazette,  November  3rd,  1S84.) 

Thf.  3rd  chapter  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  history  dif- 
fered from  the  other  two  in  not  having  been 
completely  written  out  when  the  time  came  for 
the  dehvery  of  the  lecture  last  Saturday.  The 
work  had  been  interfered  with,  it  seems,  partly 
by  a  visit  from  a  Birmingham  gentleman — the 
trustee  of  St.  George's  Guild — and  partly  by  a 
dinner  with  "  my  dear  Professor  Westwood," 
both  of  which  events,  it  will  be  seen,  suggested 
happy  thoughts  which  Mr.  Ruskin  had  not  time 
to  full}'  work  in.  So,  again,  the  historical  ex- 
tracts required  for  the  illustration  of  his  lectures 
were  on  this  occasion  curtailed,  because  "  the 
University  insists  on  building  ball-rooms  instead 
of  lecture-rooms,  and  I  do  not  care  to  keep 
you  further  imprisoned  in  this  black  hole." 
The  following  abstract,  however,  will  perhaps 
give  a  general  idea  of  Mr,  Ruskin's  line  of 
argument : — 

Saxons  versus  Normans. 

In  his  first  two  lectures  he  had  given  some 
reasons  for  doubting  whether  our  Sa.xon  ances- 
tors  were  as   fantastic   and    childish  as  Dean 


"the  pleasures  of  England:"   1S84.     235 

Stanley  represents  them.     He  now  went  a  step 
farther,  and  showed  that  there  was  such  force 
in  their  infancy  and  grace  in  their  fantasy  as 
to  make  extremely  disputable  the  Dean's  final 
statement  that  the  Norman  invasion  was  entirely 
a  sanitary,  moral,  and  intellectual  blessing  to 
England,  and  that  the  arrow  which  struck  her 
Harold  was  indeed  the  arrow  of  the    Lord's 
deliverance.    Was  the  rule  of  the  Norman  really 
"  the  avenging,  civilizing,  stimulating  hand  of 
a  mightier  race"?  and  did   the   future   of  the 
Saxons  indeed  depend  on  the  critical  advent  of 
the    didactic    and  disciplinary  Norman  barons 
to  polish  them,  stimulate,  and  chastise  ?     One 
thing,  at  least,   Mr.  Ruskin's   audience  would, 
after  his  last  lecture,  be  ready,  perhaps,  to  admit, 
and  that  was  that  the  Saxon  character,  with  its 
imagination,  its  docility,  its  love  of  knowledge, 
gave  rise  to  one  of  the  purest  and  most  intel- 
lectual forms  of  faith  that  Christendom  has  ever 
seen.     It  has,  however,  never  been  understood 
— partly  because  of  the  rudeness  of  its  expres- 
sion in  the  illumination  of  manuscripts,  and  its 
total   want  of  expression  in    architecture,  but 
chiefly  from  its  own  childlike  character,  and  its 
fearless  application  of  great  principles  to  small 
things. 

Nurman  Religion  :  tlir  GosjkI  of  Works. 

Just  as  this  faith  was  springing  to  its  fruit- 
age comes  the  Norman  invasion.  How  far  this 
was  an  advantage  may  be  seen   far  better  by 


236  APPENDIX    II. 

considering  Alfred's  struggle  against  the  \'ikings 
than  Harold's  against  William,  whose  Normans 
had  been  touched  bj-  Christianity.  They  had 
been  touched,  but  that  is  all  ;  for  the  first  thing 
to  notice  about  the  Normans  is  that  they  never 
were  Christians,  nor  ever  tried  to  be,  but  only 
enemies  of  the  Saracens.  For  detailed  know- 
ledge about  the  Normans,  between  800  -x.d. 
and  1200,  Mr.  Ruskin  referred  to  the  scattered 
notices  in  M.  VioUet  le  Due's  Dictionary  of 
Architecture — the  best  informed,  most  intelli- 
gent, and  most  thoughtful  of  guides — and  con- 
tented himself  with  gathering  up  the  general 
results.  One  needful  caution,  by  the  wa}',  Mr. 
Ruskin  interposed  to  his  erudite  critics  :  rough 
generalizations  of  four  centuries  in  so  many 
minutes  must  not  be  understood  without  excep- 
tions or  taken  an  pied  dc  la  Icltrc.  As  he  read 
them,  these  Normans  were  men  wholly  of  this 
world,  bent  on  doing  the  most  in  it  and  making 
the  best  of  it  they  could — men  of  deeds  to  their 
death,  never  pausing,  changing,  repenting,  or 
anticipating  more  than  the  completetl  square  of 
their  keep  and  roof  of  their  nave.  In  religion 
they  cared  neither  for  its  sentiments  nor  its 
promises,  but  they  adopted  it  solely  as  an  in- 
strument of  order.  Their  attitude  was  thus  the 
exact  reverse  of  that  of  the  modern  believer,  of 
whom  it  may  be  generally  said  that  he  values 
religion  as  promising  future  bliss,  not  as  enforc- 
ing present  duty.  The  Norman  searches  the 
Scriptures,  adopts  every  exhortation  to  do  and 
govern,  and  proclaims  himself  blunt  knight  of 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     1S84.        23/ 

God— liable  to  much  misapprehension,  of  course, 
as  to  the  services  immediately  required  of  him, 
but  supposing,  since  the  whole  make  of  him, 
outside  and  in,  was  a  soldier,  that  God  meant 
him  for  a  soldier,  and  that  he  was  to  establish 
by  main  force  the  Christian  faith  and  works  all 
over  the  world,  so  far  as  he  comprehended  them  ; 
not  with  the  Mohammedan  indignation  against 
spiritual  error,  but  with  a  sound  and  honest 
soul's  dislike  of  material  error,  and  resolution 
to  extinguish  that,  even  if  perchance  found  in 
the  spiritual  persons  to  whom,  in  their  office,  he 
yet  rendered  total  reverence. 

Norman  Art :  the  Rule  of  Strength. 

So,  too,  in  art,  the  Normans  make  no  books 
of  their  churches,  write  no  "  Bibles  of  Amiens  " 
on  their  porches.  As  soon  as  they  entered 
France — 

"  They  became  hardy  and  active  builders.  Within 
the  space  of  a  century  and  a  half  they  had  covered 
the  country  on  which  they  had  definitely  landed  with 
religious,  monastic,  and  civil  edifices,  of  an  extent  and 
richness  then  little  common.  They  set  themselves  to 
build  impregnable  military  walls,  and  sublime  rehgious 
ones,  in  the  best  possible  practical  ways.  Soldiers 
before  and  after  everything,  they  learned  the  lockings 
and  bracings  of  their  stones  primarily  in  defence  against 
the  battenng-ram  and  the  projectile,  and  esteemed  the 
pure  circular  arch  for  its  distributed  and  equal  strength 
more  than  for  its  beauty." 

The  pictured  wall  belongs  not  to  the  Normans. 
And  here  came  in— brought,  we  may  suppose, 


238  APPENDIX    11. 

by  "  Fors  Clavigera" — a  very  happy  illustration, 
suggested  by  Mr.  Ruskin's  Birmingham  friend, 
Mr.  Baker.     Mr.  Ruskin  was  showing  him,  only 
the  daj'  before,  the  collection  of  antique  casts 
which   Mr.   W.    B.    Richmond    had    so  wisely 
brought   to  supersede    "  the    modern    stuff  of 
Chantre3%"  and  on  stopping  under  the  Athena 
of  jEgina  Mr.  Baker  exclaimed,  "  Hallo  !  why, 
there's  the  chopped  Norman  arch  ! "    And  there, 
sure  enough  (Mr.  Ruskin  added)  it  was,  and  I 
had  never  seen  it.     The  chopped  Norman  arch 
and  the  fringe  in  which  you  3'oung  ladies  delight 
come  alike  from  the  forehead  of  Athena.     Nor 
was  this  all,  for  on  the  edge  of  her  cestus  Mr. 
Ruskin  found  the  foliation  which  he  showed  in  a 
photograph  of  Poictiers,  just  as  from  her  peplus 
comes  the  drapery    of   Rheinis.     Mr.    Ruskin 
gave  another  interesting  instance  of  the  depend- 
ence of  the  Normans  on  the  art  of  Greece.     A 
few  years  ago  he  went  to  Sicily  to  see  the  tombs 
of  Roger  and  of  Frederick  (cf.  p.  84),  and  to 
look  at  the  Norman  art  he  would  surely  find 
there.     But  not  a  stroke  of  the  chisel  turned 
out    to   belong    to    the    Normans.     Their  own 
masons  could  not  carve,  and  the  tombs  of  the 
Norman  kings  are  the  work  of  Greek  slaves. 
What    the    Greeks    carved    was   a    lion    with 
the  Gorgon's    head — again   with    the   chopped 
Norman    arch    in    the    fringe ;  and    what    the 
Normans  themselves  made  of  the  Gorgon  may 
be  seen  on  Iffiey  Church.     Mr.  Ruskin  here 
showed   an  enlarged  drawing  of  a    grotesque 
head — the  Gorgon,  with  long  ears,  and  the  face 


"the  pleasures  of  England:"   1884.     239 

elongated  by  the  Norman  helmet— the  whole 
effect  bearing  a  striking  resemblance  to  Mephis- 
topheles,  of  which  gentleman  Mr.  Ruskin  pro- 
mised to  say  more  in  later  lectures. 

The  Pleasures  of  Deed— m  War. 

Both  in  religion,  then,  and  in  art,  the  plea- 
sures of  the  Normans  were  those  not  of  faith, 
but  of  deeds.  Of  these  pleasures  of  deed  Mr. 
Ruskin  gave  many  illustrations  from  Sismondi's 
"  Norman  Conquest  of  Sicily,"  only  "  touching 
Sismondi  up  here  and  there,  where  he  is  too 
cool,  or  where  he  fails  to  see  far  enough  into 
things."  Mr.  Ruskin  referred  especially  to  the 
off-hand  determination  of  the  Normans  in  1041, 
that  "  as  they  were  there  they  might  as  well 
destroy  the  Byzantine  Empire  ;  "  to  the  deeds 
of  Robert  Guiscard  (so  politely  described  as 
"  M.  Guiscard  "  by  the  Daily  Nnvs)  ;  and  above 
all  to  the  battle  of  Civitella,  on  Waterloo  Day, 
1053,  describing  how  the  handful  of  Normans 
routed  the  Papal  forces,  and  then  how  Leo 
IX.  met  the  Norman  army  alone,  and  as  he 
approached  they  threw  themselves  on  their 
knees,  covered  themselves  with  dust,  and  im- 
plored his  pardon  and  his  blessing— "a  day  of 
deeds,  gentlemen,  that,  to  some  purpose,  at  any 
rate.  A  piece  of  poetry,  too,  if  you  like,  but  a 
piece  of  steel-clad  fact  also,  compared  to  which 
the  battles  of  Hastings  and  Waterloo  were 
mere  boys'  quarrels.  You  do  not  suppose, 
you  British  boys,  that  you  overthrew  Napoleon 


240  APPENDIX    II. 

when  your  Prime  Minister  folded  up  the  map  of 
Europe  at  the  thought  of  him.  Not  you,  but 
the  snows  of  Heaven  and  the  acts  of  Him  who 
dasheth  in  pieces  with  a  rod  of  iron.'' 

A  Defence  of  Noniiaii  "  T/iitviiig." 

Mr.  Ruskin  here  diverged  to  meet  an  objec- 
tion which  he  supposed  the  extreme  probity  of 
the  nineteentii  century  would  feel  acutely  against 
these  men — that  they  all  lived  by  thieving: 

Without  venturing  (said  Mr.  Ruskin)  to  allude  to  the 
raison  d'etre  of  the  present  French  and  Englisli  .Stock 
E.xchanges,  I  will  merely  ask  any  of  you,  whether  of 
Saxon  or  Norman  blood,  to  define  for  yourselves  what 
you  mean  by  the  "  possession  of  hidia."  I  have  no 
doubt  that  you  all  wish  to  keep  India  in  order,  and  in 
like  manner  the  Duke  William  wished  to  keep  England 
in  order.  If  you  will  read  the  lecture  on  the  life  of  Sir 
Herbert  Edwardes*  (not  Prince  Albert  Edward,  as  the 
Standard  loyally  had  it),  which  I  hope  to  give  in  London 
after  finishing  this  course,  you  will  sec  how  a  Cliristian 
British  ofiicer  could,  and  did  verily  with  his  whole  Iieart, 
keep  in  order  such  part  of  India  as  might  be  entrusted 
to  him,  and  so  doing  secured  our  empire.  But  the 
silent  feeling  and  practice  of  the  nation  about  India  are 
based  on  quite  other  motives  than  Sir  Herbert's.  Every 
mutiny,  every  danger,  every  terror,  and  every  crime 
occurring  under  or  paralyzing  our  Indian  legislation 
arises  directly  out  of  our  national  desire  to  live  on  the 
loot  of  India  ;  and  the  notion  of  English  young  gentle- 
men and  ladies  of  good  position,  falling  in  love  with 
each  other  without  immediate  prospect  of  establishment 
in  Belgrave  Squaje,  that  tliey  can  tind  in  India,  instantly 
on  landing,  a  bungalow  ready  furnished  with  the  loveliest 

*  Sec  "A  Knight's  Faith,"  vol.  iv.  of  "  Hiljliotlicc.i 
Pastorum  "  (George  Allen,  1SS5). 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"    1 884.       24 1 

fans,  china,  and  shavvls,  ices  and  sherbet  at  command, 
four-and-tut-nty  slaves  succeeding  eacli  other  hourly  to 
swing  the  punkah,  and  a  regiment  with  a  beautiful  band 
to  "  keep  order  "  outside,  all  round  the  house. 


The  Old  Lion  and  the  New. 

Mr.  Riiskin's  peroration  had  not  got  itself 
written  on  Saturday  afternoon,  but  thie  scorn- 
ful moral  with  which  his  lectures  are  wont  to 
conclude  was  pointed  very  effectively  by  some 
pictures  instead.  The  first  illustration  was  the 
lucky  outcome  of  his  dinner  with  Professor 
Westwood,  who  had  shown  him  the  Bible  of 
Charles  the  Bald,  the  tutor  of  Alfred.  The  illu- 
minated frontispiece  which  IVIr.  Ruskin  showed 
is  the  figure  of  a  true  lion,  inscribed  beneath 
with  words  which  run,  being  interpreted,  "  This 
lion  rises,  and  by  his  rising  breaks  the  gates 
of  hell.  This  lion  never  sleeps,  nor  shall  sleep 
for  evermore."  Such  was  the  lion  as  our  Saxon 
Alfred  knew  it.  For  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion 
Mr.  Ruskin  referred  his  audience  to  "  Fors 
Clavigera"  (No.  111.,  March,  1871)  and  the 
later  chapters  of  "  Ivanhoe."  "  Men  called  him 
'  Lion-heart,'  not  untruly  ;  and  the  English  as  a 
people  have  prided  themselves  somewhat  ever 
since  on  having  every  man  of  them  the  heart  of 
a  lion.  Many  lion-hearted  Englishmen  there 
have  been,  and  are  indeed  still  to  this  day  ;  but 
for  the  especial  peculiar  typical  product  of  the 
nineteenth  century  see  this  page  of  Punch." 
Mr.  Ruskin  here  displayed  in  a  frame  the  inside 
fold  oi Punch  for  August  i6th,  1884,  containing 

16 


242  APPENDIX    II. 


on  the  left-hand  page  a  drawing,  by  Mr.  Du 
Maurier,  of  the  different  effects  of  a  good  din- 
ner on  two  fat  old  gentlemen,  and  on  the  right 
a  cartoon  of  Mr.  Bright  as  "  The  Old  Lion 
Aroused."  Mr.  Ruskin  had  inserted  a  con- 
necting mark  between  the  two  pictures,  and 
christened  the  whole 

"  The  New  Lion  Stuffedr 


Lecture  IV. 

"  CcEUR  DE  Lion  to  Elizabeth  : 
THE  Pleasures  of  Fancy." 

{Pall  Mall  Gazette,  November  lotli,  1884.) 

Mr.  Ruskin's  History  has  been  "  shoved  all 
wrong,"  as  he  told  his  audience  on  Saturday, 
by  the  lucky  accidents  which  he  described  in 
his  last  lecture.  The  fourth  lecture  had  to  fill 
lip  some  of  the  gaps  in  the  third,  and  the  result 
is  that  the  History  is  getting  a  good  deal  behind 
date.  No  one  need  complain,  however,  since 
the  result  is  that  Mr.  Ruskin  has  now  promised 
some  further  lectures  to  supplement  the  present 
course,  as  well  as  a  special  one  on  Giorgione, 
with  a  description  of  whose  altar-jiiece  at  Cas- 
tel  Franco  Saturday's  miscellany  was,  as  will 
be  seen  lower  down,  brought  to  an  elociucnt 
conclusion. 


'the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     1884.        243 


"  The  Five  Chrisliiias  Days." 

The  first  gap  in  his  last  lecture  which  Mr. 
Ruskin  filled  up  on  Saturday  was  an  enumer- 
ation of  the  "  Five  Christmas  Days  "  which,  as 
it  happens,  sum  up  the  history  of  five  centuries. 
These  dates  were  written  down  on  a  diagram 
which  hung  conspicuously  on  the  wall  behind 
the  lecturer,  and  are  as  follows  :  Christmas 
Day  496,  Clovis  baptized  ;  800,  Charlemagne 
crowned  ;  1041,  the  Vow  of  the  Count  of  Aversa 
(the  settlement  of  the  Normans,  near  Naples, 
whose  vow  was  referred  to  in  the  last  lecture) ; 
1066,  the  Conqueror  crowned  ;  1 130,  Roger  II. 
crowned  King  of  the  Two  Sicihes.  These 
Christmas  Days  will  be  referred  to  in  later  lec- 
tures, said  Mr.  Ruskin,  in  connection  with  the 
way  in  which  you  keep  Christmas  Days  now. 


An  Ideal  Election. 

The  filling  up  of  another  gap  was  also  a 
correction.  In  the  last  lecture  I  gave  you 
incidentally  (said  Mr.  Ruskin)  what  was,  in  my 
opinion,  extremely  good  advice— namely,  never 
to  make  a  shot  at  anything,  neither  at  a  word 
—no,  nor  at  a  bird.  I  was  the  better  qualified 
to  give  that  sage  advice  because  I  was  at  the 
moment  making  a  shot  myself  at  the  name  of 
the  Venetian  Doge  who  was  defeated  by  Robert 
Guiscard.  I  thought  at  the  time  it  was  Pietro 
Orseolo,    but    I    now    remember    that    it    was 


244  APPENDIX    II. 

Domenico  Selvo.  Taking  this  slip  apparently 
as  an  accident  sent  by  "  Fors,"  Mr.  Ruskin 
proceeded  to  saj'  some  more  about  this  great 
Doge,  reading  from  the  chapter  entitled  "  Divine 
Right,"  in  "St.  Mark's  Rest  "—a  chapter  which 
was  always  meant,  Mr.  Ruskin  said,  for  a  lecture, 
since  much  of  its  meaning  depended  on  accent. 
It  describes  how  the  people  of  Venice  went  in 
armed  boats  to  the  Lido,  and  prayed  that  "  God 
would  grant  to  them  such  a  king  as  should  be 
worthy  to  reign  over  them  ;  "  and  how  suddenl}', 
as  thc}^  prayed,  there  rose  up  with  one  accord 
among  the  multitude  the  cry,  "  Domenico  Selvo, 
we  will,  and  we  approve."  Carlyle  has  given 
you  a  description  of  a  grand  election  in  that  of 
the  Abbof  Samson,  but  this  is  a  grander  still. 
The  chapter  then  goes  on  to  tell  how  Domenico 
entered  barefoot  the  Field  of  St.  Mark  (all 
covered  with  green  grass  then),  how  he  gave 
the  people  pillage  of  his  palace  ("modern  bribery 
is  quite  as  costly  and  not  half  so  merry "), 
and  how  he  afterwards  took  a  Greek  maid  for 
his  wife,  whose  luxur}',  especiallj'  in  the  use  of 
"certain  two-pronged  instruments"  wherewith 
to  eat  her  meat,  was  miraculous  in  the  eyes  of 
simple  Venice,  but  whose  reign  "first  gave  the 
glories  of  Venetian  art,  in  true  inheritance  from 
the  angels,  of  that  Athenian  Rock  above  which 
Ion  spread  his  starry  tapestiy,  and  under  whose 
shadow  his  mother  had  gathered  the  crocus  in 
the  dew." 


"the    pleasures    of    EiNGLAND  :  "     1 884.       245 

A  Digression. 

The  mention  of  "  Ion  "  led  Mr.  Ruskin  into  a 
little  digression  about  the  violet,  for  Euripides'  ,  ^         ■       i 

violet  was  the  viohi  odomta  of  pure  blue,  the  n^'.ht/  ULi^^M-^  j- 

Jh'ur-dc-lis  of  Byzantine  ornament.     Gathering  '^^.^o  Ja^   u 

it  at  its  home  at  Palermo  long  ago,   said   Mr. 

Ruskin,  I  matched  it  against  the  "violet  sea,"  ..■^■Si  u,j^  J'^  i^e-j 
and  could  no^  tell  which  was  which.  Here  are  m^^^  ■  ^^  ''  "^^ 
my  drawings  of  the  sea  and  of  the  flower.     I  ii.  ir 

have  given  you  in  the  Turner  Gallery,  here  in  '^     L^^r-c-'i 

Oxford,  his  rendering  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
— more  skilful  in  its  eiTect  of  haze  than  mine, 
but  mine,  I  think,  a  little  more  true  in  colour; 
at  any  rate  I  put  all  the  colour  in  my  box  on  it. 
It  is  a  picture  of  what  spring  grass  is  like — in 
Sicily  you  cannot  say  whether  it  is  green  or 
blue,  pure  white  in  Florence  and  in  France,  and 
gold  here  on  Isis  banks,  till  your  horrible  races 
came  and  embanked  the  stream,  and  the  noisy 
crowds  of  you  trampled  the  flowers. 

^^Imagination"  and  "Fancy." 

Returning  now  "  to  business,"  Mr.  Ruskin 
gave  a  preliminary  definition  of  what  he  meant 
by  imagination.  "  In  '  Modern  Painters  '  1  dis- 
tinguished unnecessarily  between  fancy  and 
imagination.  Dean  Stanley's  word  '  fantasy  ' 
is  accurate  for  both,  fancy  being  concerned  with 
lighter  things.  When  a  boy  falls  foolishly  in 
love  with  a  girl  you  say  he  has  taken  a  fancy 


<»a-i 


246  APPENDIX    II. 

for  her  ;  but  if  he  loves  her  rightly,  that  is  to 
say  for  her  noble  qualities,  you  ought  to  say  he 
has  taken  an  imagination  for  her  ;  for  then  he 
is  endowed  with  the  new  light  of  love,  which 
sees  and  tells  of  the  mind  in  her.  And  not 
falsely  or  vainly.  Wordsworth,  indeed,  says  of 
his  wife,  most  foolishly  and  conceitedly — 

•  .Such  if  thou  wert  in  all  men's  view, 
An  univt:rsal  show, 
What  would  my  fancy  have  to  do. 
My  feelings  to  bestow  ? ' 

thus  making  of  her  a  mere  lay  figure  for  the 
drapery  of  his  fancy.  But  the  true  lover's  love 
discovers,  not  bestows— discovers  what  is  most 
precious  in  his  mistress,  and  what  works  most 
deeply  for  his  life  and  hajipiness.  Day  by  day, 
as  he  lo\es  her  better,  he  discerns  her  more 
truly." 


"Imagination"  and  "  Trtit/i." 

"The  truth  and  faith  of  the  lover  are  the 
foundation  of  all  the  joy  in  imagination,  that  is 
to  say  in  truths  of  configuration.  When  in  my 
next  lecture  I  speak  of  the  pleasures  of  truth  1 
mean  untransfigured  truth,  whereas  what  the 
imagination  exercises  itself  upon  is  configured 
truth.  Thus,  you  may  look  at  a  girl  until  she 
seems  to  you  an  angel,  because,  at  best,  all  girls 
are  angels;  but  no  amount  of  looking  at  a  cock- 
chafer will  convert  it  into  a  girl.  The  conse- 
quences of  the  frank  and  eager  use  of  the  fancy 


"the  pleasures  of  England:"   1884.     247 

on  religious  subjects  are  to  be  seen  in  the 
change  from  the  '  three  whale's  cubs  '  to  the 
perfect  t3'pes  of  the  Virgin  and  Son — Divine, 
because,  with  most  affectionate  truth,  human. 
This  apotheosis  by  the  imagination  is  the  sub- 
ject of  the  present  lecture  :  to-day  I  only  de- 
scribe it ;  in  the  next  lecture  I  shall  discuss  it." 


Mythic  and  Real  Saints. 

An  important  distinction  is  to  be  noted  in 
the  objects  of  this  apotheosis,  according  as  they 
are,  or  are  not,  real  persons.  The  first  class  in- 
cludes the  mythic  saints,  who  are  often  merely 
revived  Pagan  deities  ;  the  second  includes 
men  and  women  who  really  lived,  but  whose 
memories  are  illumined  by  tradition.  The 
mythic  saints  belong  chiefly  to  the  southern 
races  ;  the  Goths  have  their  saints  of  flesh  and 
blood,  and  in  all  the  art  by  Loire  and  Seine  you 
will  never  find  either  river  personified.  The 
ideal  Charity  of  Giotto  at  Padua  tramples  upon 
bags  of  gold,  gives  only  corn  and  flowers,  while 
God's  angel  gives  her,  not  even  these,  but  a 
heart.  The  Charity  on  the  west  porch  of 
Amiens  clothes  a  beggar  with  the  staple  manu- 
facture of  the  town.  Under  the  former  exercise 
of  the  imagination  the  lion  personifies  the 
Evangelists  ;  an  angel,  justice  ;  and  some  per- 
sonification is  found  for  every  Platonic  myth 
and  Athanasian  article. 


248  APPENDIX    II. 


77?^  Glorious  Company  of  Saints. 

Mr.  Ruskin  then  went  through  some  of  the 
saints,  whose  glorious  company  was  one  of 
the  pleasures  of  imagination — speaking  first  of 
St.  Sophia,  the  pacific  and  scholastic  ghost  of 
Athena  ;  and  of  St.  Catherine  of  Egypt,  of  whom 
there  are  some  vestiges  of  personality,  and  who 
may  possibly  have  existed.  However  that  may 
be — witty,  proud,  fanciful^ — she  is  the  bride  in 
Solomon's  Song,  combining  the  purest  life  of 
the  nun  with  the  brightest  death  of  a  martyr. 
St.  Barbara  of  Egypt — confined,  like  Danae,  in 
a  tower  (inc/usaiii  Daiiai'ii  liirris  an/fa)  -  is  of 
all  saints  the  most  practical,  the  personification 
of  the  art  of  building  ;  not  a  pillar  in  Giotto's 
Santa  Maria  del  Fiore,  as  Mr.  Ruskin  says  of 
her  in  "  Ethics  of  the  Dust,"  which  Athena  did 
not  set  true  by  her  spear-shaft  as  it  rose  ;  and 
her  tower  is  the  perfected  symbol  of  Gothic 
architecture.  She  is  protectress  against  light- 
ning, and  the  first  to  hear  the  petition  in  the 
Litany  against  sudden  death.  The  later  legends, 
connecting  her  with  cannon  and  gunpowder — 
with  attack  instead  of  defence — are  a  base  cor- 
ruption ;  and  no  doubt  we  shall  have  her  next 
as  the  figure-head  of  an  ironclad.  St.  Margaret 
of  Antioch — the  Genevieve  of  the  East,  winning 
a  soul's  victory  like  Alcestis — is  the  type  of  all 
meekness  and  gentleness,  the  pattern  of  all 
gracious  and  lowly  womanhood.  Of  St.  Cecilia 
I  may  say — like  the  carter  in  Miss  Edgeworth's 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     1884.       249 

"  Harry  and  Lucy,"  who  refuses  to  believe  the 
story  of  the  upset  till  he  hears  the  name  of  the 
hill  where  it  took  place — that  a  visit  to  her 
Church  in  Rome  establishes  the  legend  of  her. 
She  is  of  course  the  patron  saint  of  music,  but 
her  true  note  is  not  so  often  insisted  upon.  In 
a  manuscript  dated  1290,  in  Mr.  Ruskin's  pos- 
session— "  I  have  selfishly  kept  it  in  my  own 
house,  but  it  shall  go  to  your  schools  now  " — 
there  is  this  story  of  St.  Cecilia  told  :  While 
the  organs  were  playing  Cecilia  sang  to  the 
Lord,  that  He  would  keep  her  heart  in  purity. 
"  We  have  hardly  so  clear  a  notion  of  the  bap- 
tizing, purifying  power  of  music  now,  and  St. 
Cecilia's  presence  at  a  Monday  Pop  would  be 
as  little  expected  as  desired."  Of  all  the  mythic 
saints  she  is  the  greatest,  and  all  who  strive  to 
purify  themselves  by  fireside  or  wayside  may 
hear  Cecilia  sing.  For  St.  Ursula  Mr.  Ruskin 
referred  to  "Fors  Clavigera  ;  "  and  of  the  second 
class  of  saints,  who  really  lived,  he  only  enu- 
merated, taking  their  French  names  from  St. 
Louis's  Psalter,  Magdalen,  Genevieve,  Scholas- 
tica,  Agatha,  Felicitas,  Christina,  Honorine, 
Euphemia,  Eugenia.  Of  Magdalen  alone  Mr. 
Ruskin  made  one  remark,  that  any  woman, 
whatever  her  position,  who  sells  herself  for 
money  is  a  harlot,  while  Magdalen  is  the  type 
of  those  for  whom  the  guilt  of  others  around 
them  have  "  taken  away  my  Christ ;  I  know 
not  where  they  have  laid  Him." 


250  APPENDIX    II. 

Figures  of  the  Saints. 

Mr.  Riiskin  then  passed  to  a  second  pleasure 
of  iniaginatk  n — not  any  longer  that  of  exalting 
the  memory  of  dead  persons,  but  that  of  set- 
ting up  their  images  and  investing  them  with 
sa^ctit3^  "  Fors  Clavigera"  came  in  the  form 
of  a  letter  from  Miss  Alexander  ("Francesca"), 
to  clench  this  matter  with  an  illustration  from 
modern  Italian  life.  In  this  letter  Miss  Alex- 
ander describes  the  Madonna  whom  she  saw 
enshrined  in  an  orphanage  as  a  stout  heavy 
person  in  impossible  drapery — much  improved 
of  late  in  cleanliness,  if  not  in  beauty  or  sanctity, 
by  a  coating  of  white  oil  paint.  One  of  the 
girls  had  given  her  a  rose,  another  a  set  of  ear- 
rings. "  I  pierced  the  ears  myself,"  added  the 
Lady  Superior,  "  with  a  gimlet."  There,  said 
Mr.  Ruskin,  jou  have  the  perfection  of  child- 
like imagination — making  everything  out  of 
nothing.* 

Giorgione  and  Tiiitorct. 

Of  Saturday's  lecture  a  written  peroration 
was  again  wanting,  and  the  conclusion  of  the 
whole  matter  was  shown  instead  in  tw'o  pictures 

*  The  letter  from  Franccsca  referred  to  above  will  be 
found  in  ch.  3  of  vol.  i.  of  "Christ's  l"olk  in  the  Apennine" 
(George  Allen,  1887),  where  Mr.  Ruskin  says  of  the 
Madonna  story,  "  There  is  no  passage  in  all  these  histories 
which  claims  from  the  general  reader  more  tender  and 
loving  attention,  or  in  reading  which  he  ought  to  repent 
more  solemnly  of  light  thought  and  scornful  mood,  or  to 
remember  with  mure  shame  the  ieonoclasm  of  Churches 
that  had  neither  sense  nor  charity." 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     1884.        25I 

— "the  two  most  perfect  pictures  in  the  world." 
One  was  a  small  piece  from  Tintoret's  Paradise 
in  the  Ducal  Palace,  representing  the  group 
of  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Gregory,  St. 
Augustine,  and  behind  St.  Augustine  "  his 
mother  watching  him,  her  chief  joy  in  Paradise." 
There  was  some  little  movement  of  laughter 
among  the  audience  as  Mr.  Ruskin  found  that 
he  had  placed  the  sketch  upside  down.  But  it 
is  little  matter,  he  added,  for  in  Tintoret's  Para- 
dise you  have  heaven  all  round  you — a  work  of 
pure  imagination,  and  that,  too,  by  a  dyer's  son 
in  Venice.  The  other  picture  was  the  Arundel 
Society's  reproduction  ("  a  Society  which  has 
done  more  for  us  than  we  have  any  notion  of") 
of  the  altar-piece  by  Giorgione,  in  his  native 
hamlet  of  Castel  Franco.  "  No  picture  in  the 
world  can  show  you  better  the  seeing  and  real- 
izing imagination  of  Christian  painters.  Gior- 
gione in  no  wise  intends  you  to  suppose  that 
the  Madonna  ever  sat  thus  on  a  pedestal  with 
a  coat  of  arms  upon  it,  or  that  St.  George  and 
St.  Francis  ever  stood,  or  do  now  stand,  in  that 
manner  beside  her ;  but  that  a  living  Venetian 
may,  in  such  vision,  most  deeply  and  rightly 
conceive  of  her  and  of  them.  As  such  this 
picture  is  alone  in  the  world,  as  an  imaginative 
representation  of  Christianity,  with  a  monk  and 
a  soldier  on  either  side,  the  soldier  bearing  the 
white  cross  of  everlasting  peace  on  the  purple 
ground  of  former  darkness." 

It  would  appear  (said  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette 


252  APPENDIX    II. 

by  way  of  supplement  to  the  above  report),  from 
one  of  the  incidental  passages  of  autobiography 
in  Mr.  Ruskin's  lecture  on  Saturday',  that  he  is 
as  much  a  victim  of  the  demon  of  noise  as 
was  his  master  Carlyle.  Among  other  passages 
which  he  read  was  one  from  Carlyle's  "  Frede- 
rick the  Great,"  in  which  it  is  told  how  Adalbert, 
Bishop  of  Prague,  was  sleeping  by  the  road-side 
when  "  a  Bohemian  shepherd  chanced  to  pass 
that  way,  warbling  something  on  his  pipe, 
as  he  wended  towards  looking  after  his  flock  ; 
and  seeing  the  sleeper  on  his  stone  pillow,  the 
thoughtless  Czech  mischievously  blew  louder." 
Adalbert  awoke,  and  shrieked  in  his  fury, 
"  Deafness  on  thee,  man  cruel  to  the  human 
sense  of  hearing  ! " — or  words  to  that  effect. 
The  curse  was  punctuall}'  fulfilled,  and  the 
fellow  was  deaf  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  What 
a  pity,  said  Mr.  Raskin,  that  you  have  no  Bishop 
Adalbert  in  Oxford  !  You  think  yourselves  very 
musical,  with  your  twiddlings  and  fiddlings  of 
organs  after  service,  but  you  allow  "  that  beastly 
hooter  "  to  wake  me  every  morning,  and  so  to 
make  life  among  you  intolerable  in  these  days. 


Lecture  V. 

"  Protestantism  :  tme  Pleasures  of  Truth." 

{Pall  Mall  Gazette,  November  17th,  1884.) 

The  space  in  the  history  of  Christianity  covered 
by  the  present  lecture  cannot,  Mr.  Ruskin  began 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     I884.        253 

by  saying  on  Saturday,  be  defined  by  the  reigns 
of  any  particular  kings  or  queens,  because  the 
movement  with  which  it  is  concerned  takes 
place  at  different  times,  in  different  countries. 
He  could  only  define  it,  therefore,  by  its  cha- 
racter, calling  it  the  period  of  Protestantism, 
including  the  two  movements  known  severally 
in  history  as  the  Reformation  and  the  Revo- 
lution. 


The  Rcjonnation  and  the  Revolution. 

Every  country  passes  through  one  Reforma- 
tion and  one  Revolution — reformation,  when  it 
bears  witness  for  spiritual  truth  against  manifest 
falsehood  ;  revolution,  when  it  secures  the  rights 
of  the  subjects  from  tyranny.  Of  the  Refor- 
mation in  all  countries  and  times,  John  Knox 
is  the  perfect  symbol  ("  or,  if  you  will,  Luther  ; 
but  I  like  Knox  better  ");  and  of  the  Revolution, 
John  Hampden — the  former  saying,  "I  won't 
be  cheated  in  religion  ; "  the  latter,  "  I  won't  be 
taxed  in  my  pockets."  "  Sometimes,  indeed,  the 
Protestant  fights  against  untruth  and  taxation 
together,  and  then  you  have  the  Protestant 
squire  ;  just  as  sometimes  the  Catholic  fights  for 
lies  and  taxes  together,  and  then  you  have  the 
Catholic  squire.  In  Scott  the  representatives 
of  the  two  kinds  of  Protestantism  are  Jeanie 
Deans  of  the  first,  and  Major  Bridgenorth,  in 
'  Peveril  of  the  Peak,'  of  the  other.  I  refer  to 
Scott,"  said  Mr.  Ruskin,  "  now  and  always,  for 
historical  illustration,   because   he    is    far    and 


254  APPENDIX    II. 

a\va\'  the  best  writer  of  history  we  have.  Our 
only  historians  (ordinarily  so  called)  are  Carlyle, 
Froude,  and  Helps,  but  none  of  them  can  see 
all  round  a  thing  as  Scott  does.  Froude  does 
not  even  know  whether  he  is  a  Catholic  or  a 
Protestant ;  Carlyle  is  first  the  one,  and  then 
the  other ;  while  Helps  is  deficient  because  he 
never  understands  Catholicism  at  all." 


The  Beauty  of  Protcstantisnt. 

Protestantism  (continued  Mr.  Ruskin)  is  still 
in  the  ascendant,  but  we  Catholics  think  that 
the  day  will  yet  come  when  we  shall  again  see 
visions  of  things  that  are  not  as  though  they 
were,  and  even  be  able,  like  Edward  the  Con- 
fessor, to  tax  the  people  in  a  tenth  of  their 
possessions  to  build  a  beautiful  church,  with  a 
weathercock  upon  it,  to  rise  above  the  filth  of 
nasty  London.  All  the  beauty  of  Protestantism 
is  embodied  in  two  great  masters — Scott  for 
English  literature,  Gotthelf  for  Continental  (not 
Goethe,  as  the  Slaiuiaid  had  it) — in  Scott,  in 
the  character  of  Jeanie  Deans;  in  Gotthelf,  in 
"  Ulric,  the  Farm  Servant."  The  latter  stoiy, 
which  Mr.  Ruskin  said  some  time  ago  he  meant 
to  add  to  "  Bibliotheca  Pastorum,"  his  series 
of  classical  books  for  the  St.  George's  Library, 
has  been  translated  from  the  German  by  one 
of  his  "  best  lady  pujjils,"  and  was  published 
recently.  Notiiing  can  be  more  perfect  or  com- 
plete, Mr.  Ruskin  said,  as  a  representation  of 
the  good  side  of  Protestantism. 


'the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     1SS4.        255 


The  Beauty  of  Catliolicisin — in  Turner. 

Leaving  the  beauty  of  Protestantism,  the 
pleasures  of  truth,  to  the  description  of  them 
in  these  two  novels,  Mr.  Ruskin  himself  turned 
to  the  other  side  of  the  question,  and  proposed 
to  show  rather  the  narrowness  of  its  rigid  truth 
in  comparison  with  the  beauty  of  the  spectral 
phenomena  in  which  Catholicism  delights.  For 
this  purpose  he  had  brought  with  him  two 
pictures — one  by  Turner,  the  other  a  copy  from 
Carpaccio.  The  Turner  was  a  large  water- 
colour  drawing,  measuring  somewhere  about 
20  inches  by  15  inches,  in  his  early  or  brown 
period,  of  a  stream  and  a  grove.  "  There," 
said  Mr.  Ruskin,  pointing  to  it,  "is  a  spectral 
grove  for  you,  the  very  eSxxtkov  of  a  grove. 
There  never  was  such  a  grove  or  such  a  stream. 
You  may  photograph  every  grove  in  the  world, 
and  never  will  you  get  so  ghostly  a  one  as  this. 
I  cannot  tell  3'ou  where  it  is ;  I  can  only  swear 
to  you  that  it  never  existed  anywhere  except 
in  Turner's  head.  It  is  the  very  best  Turner 
drawing  I  ever  saw  of  his  heroic  period,  the 
period  in  which  he  painted  the  '  Ciarden  of 
the  Hesperides'  (Nat.  Gal.,  No.  477 — exhibited 
1806)  and  'Apollo  Killing  the  Python'  (No. 
488 — exhibited  181 1).  I  picked  it  up  by  pure 
chance,  the  other  day,  in  the  shop  of  my  friend 
Mr.  Sewening,  of  Duke  Street,  St.  James's,  to 
whose  excellent  judgment,  by  the  way,  I  now 
refer  any  pictures  which  are  sent  to  me  to 
verify.     He  thought  it  might  be  a  Turner,  and 


256  APPENDIX    II. 

asked  me  ^40  for  it.  I  was  sure  it  was,  and 
gave  him  50  guineas,  and  I  now  present  it  to 
your  gallery  at  Oxford,  to  be  an  idol  to  you,  I 
hope,  for  evermore." 

In  Carpaccio's  "  S(.  Ursula." 

"  And  here,"  added  Mr.  Ruskin,  turning  to 
the  other  picture,  "is  an  idol  of  a  girl."  This 
was  a  copy  of  the  head  in  Carpaccio's  "  Dream 
of  St.  Ursula,"  the  picture  of  which  Mr.  Ruskin 
has  written  so  much  in  "  Fors  Clavigera " 
and  his  Venetian  guide-books,  and  which  was 
largel}'  referred  to,  by  the  way,  by  Mr.  Wing- 
field,  in  the  recent  revival  of  "  Romeo  and 
Juliet "  at  the  Lyceum,  for  the  details  of  a 
Venetian  interior  : — 

"  There  never  was  such  a  face  as  hers  in  the  world. 
Take  the  sweetest  you  can  find  in  your  college  gardens, 
and  none  will  be  so  sweet.  Nor  in  any  Phyllis  that 
you  know  will  you  find  such  twisted  hair  as  hers — 
twisted,  like  that  of  all  Venetian  girls,  in  memory  of  the 
time  when  they  first  made  their  hair  into  ropes  for  the 
fugitive  ships  at  Aquilcia.  You  will  never  see  such 
hair,  nor  such  peace  beneath  it  on  the  brow — the  peace  of 
heaven,  of  infancy,  and  of  death.  No  one  knows  who 
she  is  or  where  she  lived.  She  is  Persephone  at  rest 
below  the  earth  ;  she  is  Proserpine  at  play  above  the 
ground.  She  is  Ursula,  the  gentlest  yet  the  rudest  of 
little  bears  ;  a  type  in  that,  perhaps,  of  the  moss  rose, 
or  of  the  rose  sphiosissiiiiii,  with  its  rough  little  buds. 
She  is  in  England,  in  Cologne,  in  Venice,  in  Rome,  in 
eternity,  living  everywhere,  dying  everywhere,  the 
most  intangible  yet  the  most  practical  of  all  saints, 
cpieen,  for  one  thing,  of  female  education,  when  once 
her  legend  is  rightly  understood.     This  sketch  of  her 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"    1884.      257 

liead  is  the  best  drawing  I  ever  made.  Carpaccio's 
picture  is  liung,  like  all  good  pictures,  out  of  sight, 
seven  feet  above  the  ground  ;  but  the  Venetian  Academy 
had  it  taken  down  for  me,  and  I  traced  every  detail  in 
it  accurately  to  a  hair's  breadth.  It  took  me  a  day's 
hard  work  to  get  that  spray  of  silver  hair  loosening 
itself  rightly  from  the  coil,  and  twelve  times  over  had  I 
to  trj'  the  mouth.  And  to-day,  assuming  Miss  .Shaw 
Lefevre's  indulgence,  I  present  it  to  the  girls  of  Somer- 
ville  Hall.  Perhaps  the  picture  of  a  princess's  room, 
of  which  it  is  a  part,  may  teach  the  young  ladies  there 
not  to  make  their  rooms  too  pretty — to  remember  that 
they  come  to  O.xford  to  be  uncomfortable  and  to  suffer 
a  little — to  learn  whatever  can  be  learnt  in  Oxford, 
which  is  not  much,  and  even  to  live  little  Ursulas,  in 
rough  gardens,  not  on  lawns  made  smooth  for  tennis." 


"  The  Wooden  Walls  of  England." 

Such  is  the  lesson  of  the  legend  of  St.  Ursula  ; 
and  now  (continued  Mr.  Ruskin),  I  must  tell 
you  somewhat  of  a  Doge  of  Venice  who  lived 
by  the  light  of  superstitions  such  as  this,  a 
Catholic  and  a  brave  man  withal,  Cattolico  uomo 
c  atidace,  "  the  servant  of  God  and  of  St. 
Michael."  To  avoid  mistakes  to-day  and 
corrections  to-morrow,  Mr.  Ruskin  craved  per- 
mission to  read  again  from  his  Venetian  hand- 
book, "  St.  Mark's  Rest,"  which  had  always 
been  meant  for  reading,  and  had  now  been 
retouched. 

The  longest  of  these  new  touches  was  sug- 
gested by  "The  Truth  about  the  Navy,"  which 
Mr.  Ruskin  had  been  reading,  he  said,  in  the 
Pall  Mall  Gazette;  from  which  he  gathered 
that    the   British   people  having  spent   several 

17 


258  APPENDIX    II. 

hundreds  of  millions  on  blowing  iron  bubbles — 
"  the  earth  hath  bubbles,  as  the  water  has,  and 
these  are  of  them" — would  soon  be  busy  blowing 
more.  Nothing  could  be  more  tragically  absurd 
than  the  loss  of  the  Captain  and  the  London,  un- 
less it  were  the  loss  of  the  Eurydicc — without  her 
Orpheus  then.  There  was  nothing  the  matter, 
except  that  Governments  were  donkeys  enough 
to  build  in  iron  instead  of  wood,  just  in  order 
that  the  ironmongers  might  get  their  commis- 
sions. They  were  honest  enough,  these  Go- 
vernments, but  they  allowed  the  ironmongers 
to  work  them  round  like  screws.  Whoever 
heard  of  a  Venetian  man-of-war  going  over  ? 
A  gale  was  nothing  at  all  to  a  wooden  ship  ; 
Venice  would  have  laughed  at  it,  rejoiced  in  it. 
They  never  heard  of  a  Venetian  being  upset  or 
making  for  the  shore.  Why  ?  Because  they 
had  been  broken  in  to  the  life  of  the  rough  sea. 
"  You  think  that  you  know  what  boating  is  ; 
but  why  don't  you  practise  in  the  open  sea,  as 
the  Venetians  did,  instead  of  spoiling  the  Isis, 
here  ?  "  But  with  the  London,  she  was  crossing 
the  Ba}'  of  Bisca}'  when  it  got  a  little  rough ; 
the  wind  blew  the  bulwarks  down,  and  down 
the  ship  went  bodily-.  The  only  grand  thing 
connected  with  it  was  that  the  captain,  looking 
over  the  bulwarks  as  the  last  boat  was  launched, 
gave  the  crew  their  latitude,  and  saitl  he  would 
go  down  with  his  ship,  and  he  did.  Mr.  Ruskin 
had  no  patience,  in  face  of  disasters  like  those 
of  the  London  and  the  Captain,  with  the  talk  all 
about  our  splendid  British  seamanship.     It  was 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"     I884.      259 

bombastic  English  blarney — not  Irish,  for  there 
was  always  wit  in  an  Irish  bull,  but  only  a 
double  blunder  in  an  English  one — all  that  talk 
about  sweeping  the  fleets  of  all  other  nations  off 
the  seas.  You  went  under  Napier  and  knocked 
your  heads  against  Cronstadt,  and  Cronstadt 
cared  no  more  for  you  than  if  you  had  been  a 
flight  of  swallows  or  sparrows.  Then  you  went 
and  knocked  your  heads  against  Sebastopol ; 
and,  in  spite  of  all  the  lies  in  the  newspapers, 
every  one  knew  that  the  British  fleet  had  been 
thoroughly  well  licked.  And  now  you  have 
been  bombarding  Alexandria,  and  narrowly 
escaped  being  done  for  by  a  few  Arabs.  So 
much  for  the  proud  supremacy  of  the  British 
navy  and  its  ironclads.*  They  might  say  that 
all  this  was  irrelevant ;  but  there  was  no  finer  art 


*  "Mr.  Ruskin"  (wrote  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette),  "like  the 
rest  of  the  world,  is  fully  alive  (as  will  be  seen  from  the 
report  of  his  lecture  in  another  column)  to  the  Truth  about 
the  Navy,  and  to  the  loss  of  our  vaunted  supremacy  on  the 
sea.  We  can  hardly  agree  with  him,  however,  that  every- 
thing would  again  be  right  if  we  only  got  rid  of  the 
'ironmongers'  and  their  '  bubbles,' and  sent  the  mariners 
of  England  to  meet  the  Navies  of  the  world  in  row-boats. 
As  for  IWr.  Ruskin's  version  of  the  truth  about  Protes- 
tantism, which  was  the  main  subject  of  his  lecture,  it  will 
be  interesting  to  see  what  the  Rock,  say,  will  make  of  it. 
The  Catholic  community  in  Oxford  must  apparently  have 
been  forewarned  of  IVIr.  Ruskin's  conversion  to  their  party, 
for  there  was  an  important  deputation  of  them  in  the  front 
seats  on  Saturday  afternoon,  and  very  pretty  it  was  to  see 
them  cheering  the  winged  words  of  their  fiery  ally.  Every 
one  who  knows  Mr.  Ruskin's  earlier  works  will  remember 
how  he  was  brought  up  by  the  strictest  sect  of  Protestant 
Evangelicalism.  In  his  old  age  he  ought  to  serve  as  a 
terrible  example  to  Protestant  mothers." 


260  APPENDIX    II. 

than  ship-building,  and  they  would  find  that  out 
when  he  set  them  to  draw  ships  ;  they  were 
onl}-  drawing  shells  now.  Even  a  draughtsman 
could  not  draw  two  sides  of  a  ship  alike ;  no- 
bod)-  but  Turner  ever  did.  The}'  might  say  one 
of  the  subjects  forbidden  to  him  was  political 
economy  ;  but  that  subject,  too,  would  be  forced 
on  them  all  pretty  soon.  For  when  all  the  pre- 
sent ships  were  destroyed  the  new  ones  would 
also  go  "  snap  "  in  like  fashion. 


The  Nclsoit  of  Venice :  a  Catholic  and  Brave 
Man. 

The  chapter  from  which  Mr.  Ruskin  was 
reading  when  this  parenthesis  came  in  is  the 
one  entitled  "  The  Burden  of  Tyre,"  and  tells 
the  story  of  Domenico  Michicl,  the  Nelson  of 
Venice,  the  doge  who  brought  back  in  1 1 26, 
from  his  wars  against  the  Saracens,  the  famous 
pillars  of  the  Piazzetta.  Besides  them,  he 
brought  the  dead  bodies  of  St.  Donate  and  St. 
Isidore  ;  for  the  Venice  of  his  day  was  intensely 
covetous,  not  only  of  mone\',  though  she  loved 
that  too,  nor  of  kingdom,  nor  of  pillars  of  marble 
and  granite,  but  "also  and  quite  principally  of 
the  relics  of  good  people,  of  their  dust  to  dust, 
ashes  to  ashes."  He  himself  lies  buried  behind 
the  altar  of  the  church  of  St.  Giorgio  Maggiore, 
and  on  his  tomb  there  was  this  inscription 
written,  "  Whoever  thou  art,  who  comest  to 
behold  this  tomb  of  his,  bow  thyself  down 
before  God  because  of  him." 


THE    PLEASURES    OF    ENGLAND:"    1884.      261 


Tivo  Types  of  Protestant  Witness. 

That  (said  Mr.  Ruskin)  is  the  feeling  of  all 
"  Old  Catholics  "  in  the  presence  of  a  shrine  ; 
they  worship  not  the  hero  or  the  saint,  but  "  God 
because  of  him."  Against  all  this  comes  the 
witness  of  Protestantism,  partly  honest,  partly 
hypocritical,  with  good  knowledge  of  a  few  minor 
things,  but  ignorant  hatred  of  all  above  and 
beyond  itself  Here  I  have  for  you  a  type  of 
the  honest  but  not  liberally  minded  Protestant 
(said  Mr.  Ruskin),  disclosing  a  sketch  of  a  little 
porker.  The  little  pig  walks  along,  you  see, 
knowing  every  inch  of  its  ground,  having  in  its 
snout  a  capital  instrument  for  grubbing  up 
things.  You  may  be  shocked,  perhaps,  at  my 
selection  of  this  animal  for  the  type  of  a  religious 
sect ;  but  if  you  could  but  realize  all  the  beau- 
tiful things  which  the  insolence  of  Protestant- 
ism has  destroyed,  you  would  think  surely 
the  Gadarene  swine  too  good  for  it.  But  my 
illustration  is,  at  any  rate,  appropriate  as  signifi- 
cant of  the  Protestant  and  Evangelical  art  which 
can  draw  a  pig  to  perfection,  but  never  a  pretty 
lady.  Mr.  Ruskin  then  passed  on  to  the  hypo- 
critical Protestant,  and  produced  as  the  type  of 
him  a  sketch  in  black  and  white  of  a  truly 
repulsive  Mr.  Stiggins  with  a  concertina. 


The  Heroic  Ideal. 

These   two   sketches  were   to   illustrate  the 
religious  ghostly  ideal.     The  heroic  ideal  was 


262  APPENDIX    II. 

illustrated  from  poetrj'.  The  faith  in  human 
honour,  taking  the  place  of  the  faith  in  religion, 
which  is  the  groundwork  of  this  ideal,  passes 
into  the  noble  pride  of  the  true  knight ;  and  it 
is  when  this  noble  pride  passes  into  malignant 
pride  that  the  Revolution  comes.  Of  the  true 
knight,  the  perfect  type  is  Douglas  in  the  "  Ladj' 
of  the  Lake."  "  No  one  reads  Scott  now  (Mr. 
Ruskin  here  parentheticallj'  remarked),  and  1  am 
going  to  send  his  poems  and  novels  by  the  gross 
to  classes  in  our  elementary  schools — not  for 
prizes  to  be  awarded  by  competition,  but  to  be 
given  to  any  boy  or  girl  who  is  good  and  likes 
to  read  poetry.  I  should  like  to  see  the  children 
draw  lots  for  the  books,  and  the  one  who  wins 
not  keep  the  book,  but  have  the  right  of  giving 
it  away — a  very  subtle  little  moral  lesson." 
Mr.  Ruskin  then  read  some  stanzas  from  the 
fifth  canto  of  "  The  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  describ- 
ing the  burghers'  sports  before  King  James  at 
Stirling,  the  classical  passage  in  Scott  corre- 
sponding to  the  games  in  Virgil.  The  passage 
is  typical,  too,  of  that  association  with  his  dog, 
his  horse,  and  his  falcon  which  is  a  mark  of 
the  knight,  the  clown  being  one  who  cannot 
keep  these  animals,  or  does  not  know  how  to 
use  them.  It  was  very  bad  of  Douglas,  you 
may  think,  to  knock  a  man  down  for  the  sake 
of  a  dog — a  creature  that  we  should  think 
nothing  of  torturing  nowadays  for  a  month  to 
find  out  the  cause  of  a  pimple  on  our  ow^i 
red  noses.  Mr.  Ruskin  then  went  on  to  the 
stanzas    which    he    wished    all    who    cared    to 


"the    pleasures    of    ENGLAND:"    1884.      263 

please   him    at    once    to    learn    by    heart,    the 
stanzas  in  which 

"  With  grief  the  noble  Douglas  saw 
The  commons  rise  against  the  law  ;  " 

and  bade  them  hear 

"  Ere  yet  for  me 
Ye  break  the  bands  of  fealty." 

[The  remaining  lectures  of  this  course  on 
"  The  Pleasures  oi'  England  "  were  not  delivered, 
for  reasons  explained  at  the  beginning  of  the 
next  Appendix.] 


APPENDIX    HI. 

A  Lecture  on  "Patience." 

{Pall  Mall  Gazette,  November  24th,  18S4.) 

No  better  proof  can  be  given  of  Mr.  Ruskin's 
popularity  at  Oxford  than  the  fact  that  he  played 
off  a  practical  joke  on  the  five  hundred  people 
who  crowded  the  Museum  theatre  to  hear  him 
on  Saturday  afternoon,  and  yet  aroused  no  per- 
ceptible resentment.  They  had  all  come — an 
hour  before  the  time,  too,  many  of  them — to 
hear  the  sixth  of  his  appointed  course  of  lectures 
on  the  "  Pleasures  of  England  ;  "  but  he  straight- 
way announced  that  this  lecture  would  be  post- 
poned till  Monday  week,  and  meanwhile  he 
proposed  to  read  them  a  little  essay  on  Patience. 
The  innocent  joke,  it  should  at  once  be  said, 
was  not  altogether  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  own  devis- 
ing. The  remaining  lectures  of  the  proper 
course  were  ready,  but  pressure  had  been 
brought  to  bear  upon  him  to  suppress  or  recast 
them.  The  details  of  these  lectures  had  so  far 
"  fluttered  the  dovecots  of  the  vivisectionists  " 
tiiat  there  had  even  been  threats  of  the  inter- 
vention   of  a    Board    of  Studies,    and    of  the 


A    LECTURE    ON    "PATIENCE."  265 

incarceration  of  their  single-handed  antagonist.* 
Why  they  were  so  much  afraid  of  his  discussing 
the  pleasures  of  sense  he  really  could  not  think. 
All  the  beautiful  things  he  had  showed  them  in 
religious  art  appealed  to  the  pleasure  of  sense. 
Every  religious  child  is  happy  ;  and  all  religion, 
if  it  is  true,  is  beautiful ;  it  is  only  sham  religion 
— the  habit,  for  instance,  of  excessive  mourning 
for  the  dead — and  vice  that  are  ugly.  When 
they  heard  the  lecture  they  would  see  that  he 
was  only  going  to  point  out  to  them  some  new 
and  innocent  ways  of  enjoying  themselves. 

The  unkind  critics  who  had  caused  all  this 
confusion  were — so  it  was  said  in  O.xford — Mr. 
Macdonald  and  Dr.  Acland.  Mr.  Ruskin  had 
taken  their  rebuke  meekly  ;  but  if  it  was  on 
behalf  of  science  that  Dr.  Acland  was  afraid, 
Mr.  Ruskin  clearly  means  to  have  his  revenge. 
For  in  the  meanwhile  he  promised  to  give  a 
scientific  lecture  (see  Appendi.\  IV.)  ;  and  Mr. 
Ruskin's  scientific  lectures  do  not  greatly  please 
the  recognized  professors  of  science.  "  I  shall 
not  tell  you,"  Mr.  Ruskin  said,  "how  long  a 
bird's  larynx  is,  for  I   don't  know  and  I  don't 


*  Writing  from  Oxford  on  December  1st,  1SS4,  to  Miss 
Beever,  Mr.  Ruskin  said,  "  I  gave  my  fourteenth,  and  last 
for  this  year,  lecture  this  afternoon,  with  vigour  and  effect 
(/.('.  the  Lecture  on  Birds,  Appendix  IV.),  and  am  safe  and 
well  (D.G.),  after  such  a  spell  of  work  as  I  never  did  before. 
1  have  been  thrown  a  week  out  in  all  my  plans,  by  having 
to  write  two  new  lectures,  instead  of  those  the  University 
was  frightened  at.  The  scientists  slink  out  of  my  way 
now,  as  if  I  were  a  mad  dog,  for  I  let  them  have  it  hot 
and  hearty  whenever  I've  a  chance  at  them"  ("Hortus 
Inclusus,"  p.  87). 


266  APPENDIX    in. 

care,  but  I  can  tell  you  something  about  its  sing- 
ing. I  can  tell  you  about  its  feathers,  but  not 
what  is  underneath  its  skin.  Whj',  I  went  into 
3'our  museum  to  find  an  Abyssinian  kingfisher 
— the  classical  halcj-on — but  there  was  only  one, 
hidden  in  a  dark  corner,  and  that  not  a  good 
enough  specimen  to  draw.  A  very  sad  thing 
that,  and  even  sadder  that  they  should  pack 
away  the  skins  of  the  birds  in  drawers  in  '  stink- 
ing camphor.'  In  the  British  Museum,  however, 
you  can  now  for  the  first  time  see  birds  poised, 
and  how  they  fly.  I  told  Dr.  Giinthcr,*  the 
Keeper  of  Zoology  (in  the  second  chapter  of 
'  Love's  Meinie,'  for  example),  and  he's  now 
telling  you."  Next  Saturday,  Mr.  Ruskin  added, 
I  shall  do  a  little  more  "peacocking"  before 
you,  and  am  going  to  show  you  some  practical 
experiments — with  the  help  of  the  Baliiol  College 
cook — of  glaciers  and  glacier  motion.     Here, 

*  Referring  to  the  above  report,  Mr.  Ruskin  wrote  to  the 
Pa/l Ma// Gazelle S.S  follows  :  "84,  Woodstock  Road,  O.xford, 
Nos'embcr  25th. — Sir, — Again  thanking  you  for  the  general 
care  and  fulness  of  your  reports,  permit  me  to  correct  the 
sentence  referring  to  the  head  of  the  Zoological  Department 
in  the  British  Museum,  as  it  is  given  in  your  account  of  my 
lecture  on  Saturday.  I  said  that  in  '  Love's  Meinie  '  I  had  for 
the  first  time  explained  to  my  Oxford  pupils  how  birtls  tlew, 
and  that  now  Dr.  Giinthcr  had  beautifully  .sVio.cj;  the  birds 
of  England  to  us  all,  in  the  perfect  action  of  Hying.  Hut  1 
never  said  I  had  '  told  Dr.  Giinther '  anything.  Everything 
he  has  so  beaiitifully  done  has  been  his  own  bettering  of 
what  had  been  begun  by  Mr.  Gould  ;  it  fulfils,  or  supersedes, 
much  of  what  I  meant  to  attempt  at  .Shefiield,  and  leaves 
me,  1  am  thankful  to  say,  more  free  to  my  proper  work 
here.  Dr.  Giinthcr  continually  tells  itte  things,  in  all  sorts 
of  kind  ways,  but  I  never  told,  or  coii/r/  have  told,  him  any- 
thing.— I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant,  J.  Ruskin. " 


A    LECTURE    ON    "  PATIENCE."  267 

again,  Mr.  Ruskin  has  an  old  quarrel,  as  every 
one  knows,  with  the  men  of  science. 

The  prospect  of  these  two  dainty  dishes 
should  itself  have  made  the  lesson  of  patience 
easier.  As  Mr.  Ruskin  told  the  girls  in  the 
"  Ethics  of  the  Dust,"  there  was  obviously  no 
reason  why  his  audience,  because  they  were  the 
richer  by  the  expectation  of  playing  at  a  new 
game — of  having  two  new  lectures  thrown  in — 
should  make  themselves  unhappier  than  when 
they  had  nothing  to  look  forward  to  but  the  old 
ones.  And  then,  even  when  the  little  lecture 
itself  began,  Mr.  Ruskin  often  stopped  from  his 
reading  to  throw  sugar-plums  to  his  pupils. 
Were  there  any  of  them  courting,  for  instance  ? 
Then  his  advice  was  to  continue  it  as  long  as 
possible.  "  Young  people  nowadays  do  not 
enjoy  their  courtship  half  enough ;  it  really 
becomes  nicer  and  nicer  the  longer  it  lasts. 
Besides,  you  are  all  sure  to  find  fault  with  your 
wives  when  you  marry  them  ;  it  is  only  during 
courtship  that  they  are  entirely  faultless  and 
seraphic ;  and  why  not  keep  them  so  as  long 
as  you  can  ?  "  Then  there  was  a  little  critical 
squib,  apropos  of  a  citation  of  Keats's  phrase, 
"  human  serpentry."  "  Read  as  much  Keats 
as  possible,  and  no  Shelley.  Shelley,  with  due 
admiration,  notwithstanding,  for  his  genius,  is 
entirely  mischievous,  Keats  entirely  innocent 
and  amusing."  As  for  the  little  essay  on 
Patience  itself,  it  consisted  of  readings,  with 
occasional  self-criticism,  from  the  "  Cestus  of 
Aglaia  "  and  "  St.  Mark's  Rest."     The  "  Cestus 


268  APPENDIX    III. 

of  Aglaia"  was  the  title  given  to  the  papers 
which  Mr.  Ruskin  contributed  to  the  Art  Jour- 
nal m  1856-7,  on  "The  Opposition  of  Modesty 
and  Liberty,  and  the  Unescapable  Law  of  Wise 
Restraint,"'  and  some  of  which  were  afterwards 
incorporated  in  "  The  Queen  of  the  Air."  Were 
they  the  passages  in  that  book,  one  wonders, 
which  Carlj'le  told  Mr.  Froude  "  went  into 
his  heart  Hke  arrows "  ?  The  passage  read 
on  Saturday,  however,  was  none  of  these 
chapters,  but  was  the  analysis  of  Chaucer's 
.  "  Patience  :  "— 

"  Dame  Patientia  sitting  there  I  fond, 
Witli  face  pale,  upon  a  hill  of  sond." 

Mr.  Ruskin  apologized  for  the  over-allusive 
style  in  which  much  of  this  analysis  was  written, 
for  "  twenty  j-cars  ago  I  was  always  fond  of 
showing  that  I  knew  a  good  deal  and  had  read 
a  good  deal."  Elsewhere,  too,  he  has  explained, 
with  reference  to  these  same  chapters  in  the  Art 
Journal,  that  he  has  "three  different  ways  of 
writing — one,  with  the  single  view  of  making 
myself  understood,  in  which  I  necessarily  omit 
a  good  deal  of  what  comes  into  my  head  ; 
another,  in  which  1  say  what  I  think  ought  to 
be  said,  in  what  I  suppose  to  be  the  best  words 
I  can  find  for  it  (which  is  in  reality  an  affected 
style)  ;  and  my  third  way  of  writing  is  to  say 
all  that  comes  into  my  head  for  my  own  plea- 
sure, in  the  first  words  that  come,  retouching 
them  afterwards  into  (approximate)  grammar." 
The   "Ccstus  of  Aglaia"   was  written   in   this 


A    LECTURE    ON    "  PATIENCE."  269 

third  style.  From  the  Patience  of  Chaucer, 
Mr.  Ruskin  passed  to  the  Patience  of  Venice. 
The  Patience  who  really  smiles  at  grief  usually 
stands,  or  walks,  or  even  runs.  She  seldom 
sits,  though  she  may  sometimes  have  to  do  it  for 
many  a  day,  poor  thing,  by  monuments,  or  like 
Chaucer's,  with  "  face  pale,  upon  a  hill  of  sond." 
The  Patience  of  Venice  is  to  be  found  on  a 
monument — the  statue  of  St.  Theodore,  whose 
legend  Mr.  Ruskin  has  explained  in  "  Fors 
Clavigera"  (March,  1877),  and  again  in  the  2nd 
chapter  of  "St.  Mark's  Rest,"  from  which  he 
read  on  Saturday.  In  these  later  books  of  his, 
when  he  talks  in  what  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold 
calls  his  "  assured  way  "  about  the  meaning  of 
legends,  he  is  only  collating  the  results  of  a 
life's  work,  begun  when  he  was  twenty-four 
years  old,  and  when,  by  the  good  counsel  of 
Dean  Liddell,  he  took  to  drawing  religious  art  in 
the  Christ  Church  library.  All  early  religious 
art  is  symbolic,  and  the  meaning  of  the  symbols 
is  well  ascertainable.  The  divinity  of  Botti- 
celli, for  instance,  is  a  science  at  least  as  well 
known  as  that  of  the  Greek  gods,  and  all  Mr. 
Ruskin  does  is  to  give  the  result  of  the  Catholic 
knowledge  of  the  saints — the  interpretation 
which  is  universally  recognized  of  their  legends. 
St.  Theodore,  then,  standing  on  a  crocodile,  as 
he  may  be  seen  on  one  of  the  twin  pillars  of 
the  Piazzetta  at  Venice,  represents  the  power 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  all  noble  and  useful 
animal  life,  conquering  what  is  venomous,  use- 
less, or  in  decay.     The  victory  of  his  Patience  is 


2/0  APPENDIX    III. 

making  the  earth  his  pedestal  instead  of  his 
adversary  ;  he  is  the  power  of  gentle  and  rational 
life,  reigning  over  the  wild  creatures  and  sense- 
less forces  of  the  world — the  dragon-enemy 
becoming  by  hiunan  mercy  the  faithfullest  of 
creature  friends  to  man. 

Besides  the  essay  on  Patience,  Mr.  Ruskin 
set  to  work  on  Saturday  on  a  clearing-up  and 
putting  right  of  the  "  heterogeneous  rubble " 
which  some  of  the  newspapers  had  made  of  his 
remarks  on  the  British  Navy  last  week.  With 
a  prett\'  compliment  to  his  pupils,  he  asked  them 
to  s3-mpathize  with  the  bewilderment  of  the 
paltry  British  press  in  its  attempt  to  reduce  to 
the  level  of  British  press  understanding  lectures 
which  were  prepared  only  for  their  higher  intel- 
ligence. Mr.  Ruskin  then  repeated  what  he  had 
before  said  about  the  loss  of  the  London,  the 
Captain,  and  the  Eurydicc.  To  these  disasters 
he  now  added  a  much  antecedent  one — that  of 
the  Royal  George,  which  was  sunk  in  the  harbour, 
with  most  of  her  crew,  while  the  captain  was 
writing  in  the  cabin,  because  a  few  of  them 
were  hunting  rats  half  a  minute  too  long  in  her 
hull.  They  liad  tinis  four  accurate  illustrations 
of  a  kind  of  shipbuilding  and  ship  management 
of  which  there  was  no  parallel  whatever,  either 
among  the  Saxons,  Vikings,  Venetians,  Cartha- 
ginians, Athenians,  or  Normans.  These  catas- 
trophes belonged  exclusively  to  modern  naval 
history,  which  had  itstrium]ihs,  but  wasdarkened 
by  many  more  shadows  than  tiie  features  which 
beautified  it.     As  for  the  remedy,  Mr.  Ruskin 


A    LECTURE    ON    "PATIENCE.  2/1 

has  explained  long  ago,  in  "Fors,"  the  incom- 
patibility of  seamanship  with  iron.  "You  need 
not  think,"  he  said,  "  that  you  can  ever  have 
seamen  in  iron  ships  ;  it  is  not  in  flesh  and  blood 
to  be  vigilant  when  vigilance  is  so  slightly  neces- 
sary ;  the  best  seaman  born  will  lose  his  qualities 
when  he  knows  he  can  steam  against  wind  and 
tide,  and  has  to  handle  ships  so  large  that  the 
care  of  them  is  necessarily  divided  among  many 
persons.  If  you  want  sea  captains  indeed,  like 
Sir  Richard  Grenville  or  Lord  Dundonald,  you 
must  give  them  small  ships  and  wooden  ones — 
nothing  but  oak,  pine,  and  hemp  to  trust  to, 
above  or  below — and  those  trustw^orthy." 


APPENDIX    IV. 

"  Birds,  and  How  to  Paint  them." 

(Pall  Mall  Gazette,  December  3rd,  1884.  For  the  pre- 
paration of  this  report  Mr.  Ruskin  lent  me  his  own 
manuscript  notes.) 

Town  and  Countiy  Life. 

"  I  liave  scarcely  any  heart  to  address  you 
to-day,"  Mr.  Ruskin  began  by  saj-ing  on  Satur- 
day, "  so  terrified  am  I,  and  so  subdued,  by  tlie 
changes  in  Oxford  which  have  taken  place  even 
since  first  I  accepted  this  Professorship,  and 
which  are  directly'  calculated  to  paralyze  all  my 
efforts  to  be  useful  in  it.  I  need  scarcely  tell 
any  of  my  pupils  that  my  own  Art  teaching  has 
been  exclusively  founded  on  the  hope  of  getting 
people  to  enjo}'  country  life,  and  to  care  for  its 
simple  pleasures  and  modest  employments.  But 
I  find  now  that  the  ideal  in  the  minds  of  all 
young  people,  however  amiable  and  well-mean- 
ing, is  to  marry  as  soon  as  possible,  and  then  to 
live  in  the  most  fashionable  part  of  the  largest 
town  they  can  afiord  to  coni]i(te  with  the  rich 
inhabitants  of,   in  the  largest  house  they  can 


'    BIRDS,    AND    HOW    TO    PAINT    THEM.  273 

Strain  their  incomes  to  the  rent  of,  with  the 
water  laid  on  at  the  top,  the  gas  at  the  bottom, 
huge  plate-glass  windows,  out  of  which  they  may 
look  uninterruptedly  at  a  brick  wall,  a  drawing- 
room  on  the  scale  of  Buckingham  Palace,  with 
Birmingham  fittings,  and  patent  everythings 
going  of  themselves  everywhere;  with,  for  all 
intellectual  aids  to  felicity,  a  few  bad  prints,  a 
few  dirty  and  foolish  books,  and  a  quantity  of 
photographs  of  the  people  they  know,  or  of  any 
passing  celebrities.  This  is  the  present  ideal  of 
English  life,  without  exception,  for  the  middle 
classes ;  and  a  more  miserable,  contemptible,  or 
criminal  one  never  was  formed  by  any  nation 
made  under  the  wondering  stars.  It  implies 
perpetual  anxiety,  lazy  and  unjustifiable  pride, 
innumerable  petty  vexations,  daily  more  poig- 
nant greed  for  money,  and  the  tyrannous  com- 
pulsion of  the  labouring  poor  into  every  form  of 
misery  ;  and  it  implies,  further,  total  ignorance 
of  all  the  real  honour  of  human  life  and  beauty 
of  the  visible  world.  I  felt  all  this  borne  in 
upon  me,  almost  to  the  point  of  making  me  give 
up  all  further  effort  here  in  England,  and  going 
away  to  die  among  the  Alps,  when  I  walked 
early  this  week  across  what  were  once  fields,  but 
are  now  platforms  of  mud  and  bitumen,  to  what 
we  used  to  call  the  '  Happy  Valley,'  and  the 
scenes,  by  Ferry  Hinksey  (but  '  in  the  two 
Hinkseys  nothing  keeps  the  same  '),  of  my  for- 
mer endeavours  to  set  some  undergraduates  to 
useful  country  labour.  [See  ante,  p.  43.]  Every 
beautiful  view,  either  of  Oxford  or  from  it,  is  now 


2/4  APPENDIX    IV. 

scarified  and  blasted  by  the  detestable  conditions 
of  labour,  which  always  mean  that  a  company 
or  a  capitalist  are  ruining  either  themselves  or 
somebody  else.  [Mr.  Ruskin  need  not,  though, 
have  put  the  alternative,  for  the  O.xford  Build- 
ing Company  has  ruined  both  itself  and  many 
others.]  There  is  not  an  old  path  to  be  trodden, 
or  an  old  memory  to  be  traced,  except  where 
the  discouraged  and  desperate  cottagers  here 
and  there  maintain  still  a  rugged  fence  or  let 
run  a  half-choked  ditch  round  the  melancholy 
yards  or  gardens  which  they  can  still  call  their 
own." 


"  Inklligciil  Dcstrudioii  "  of  Birds. 

"  Now,  what  IS  the  use,"  Mr.  Ruskin  went 
on  to  ask,  "  under  these  conditions,  of  my  talk- 
ing to  you  about  birds  ?  Are  their  nests  to  be 
built  in  the  waterworks  reservoir  ?  is  their  song 
to  be  heard  in  the  morning  above  the  steam 
buzzer  and  the  roll  of  the  tramway  ?  have  you 
still  hearts  to  listen  to  it,  if  it  could  be  ?  What 
do  you  want  of  them  now,  but  for  such  deadly 
science  or  deadlier  luxury  as  may  best  feed  3'our 
itch  for  notoriety  of  some  sort — their  skeletons 
or  their  skins  ?  And  I  have  actually  been  un- 
able, from  the  mere  distress  and  disgust  of  what 
I  had  to  read  of  bird-slaughter,  to  go  on  with 
'  Love's  Meinie.'  I  will  make  you  a  little  mise- 
rable, with  myself,  in  letting  you  hear  accurately 
described   the   sort  of  thing   that   is   going  on 


"  BIRDS,    AND    HOW    TO    PAINT    THEM."        2/5 

continually."  Mr.  Ruskin  then  read  two  ex- 
tracts from  "  a  thoroughly  trustworthy  book," 
Mr.  Robert  Gray's  "Birds  of  the  West  of  Scot- 
land," describing,  among  other  things,  how  some 
ornithologist  of  the  party  had  shot  two  parent 
divers  and  their  little  ones.  Some  others  of  the 
party  had  seen  the  little  ones  the  day  before,  and 
had  given  them  their  first  swimming  lesson, 
but  the  ornithologists  wanted  their  skins.  The 
other  extract  told  how  the  same  party  (minus 
the  ornithologists  this  time,  it  would  seem)  had 
taken  on  board  their  yacht  a  live  specimen  of 
the  tystc,  or  black  guillemot,  and  made  a  pet  of 
him.  When  he  desired  to  leave  his  basket  the 
little  fellow  would  "raise  himself  upon  his  hinder 
end  till  he  was  almost  as  tall  as  a  little  spruce 
tree  ;  and  then  he  would  waddle  on  to  the  palm 
of  a  person's  hand,  and  sit  there  flapping  his 
wings  as  if  he  were  flying  at  the  rate  of  fifty 
miles  an  hour ;  and  then  he  would  rest  himself 
on  his  abdomen,  and  shut  one  eye,  and  wink  with 
the  other  at  the  sun.  But  the  cabin-boy  said 
from  the  beginning  that  he  was  too  good  to 
live.  The  little  creature  died,  I  believe,"  Mr. 
Ruskin  here  put  in,  "  angelically,  of  being  too 
happy  ;  but  does  not  this  show  you  how  natural 
it  is  for  men  and  birds  to  love  each  other,  and 
live  with  other  joyfully  ? — if  it  were  not  for  these 
ghastly  skin  and  bone  mongers  who  call  them- 
selves ornithologists,  and  the  still  wretcheder 
and  ghastlier  form  of  English  booby  squire,  who 
knows  nothing  and  cares  for  nothing  in  all  the 
earth  but  how  to  wink  along  a  gun-barrel  till 


2/6  APPENDIX    IV. 

he  can  sight  it  to  blow  the  brains  out  of  some- 
thing, and  he  thinks  that  clever,  and  the  best 
part  of  the  life  of  a  lord." 

Tlie  Scientific  Viezc  of  Birds. 

Mr.  Ruskin  then  went  on  to  illustrate,  from  a 
book  of  scientific  travel,  a  difterent  method  of 
intelligent  destruction — that  of  "  the  mob,  who, 
not  having  guns,  take  to  stones,"  and  the  kind 
of  study  of  birds  in  connection  therewith.  Here 
is  the  method  of  destruction:  "At  one  place 
ten  cormorants  and  three  steamer  ducks  were 
assembled  on  three  small  rocks,  placed  side  by 
side,  and  would  not  take  their  departure  till  1 
had  thrown  a  succession  of  stones  at  them.  .  .  . 
One  or  two  which  had  been  hit  with  stones  la^' 
on  their  backs  on  the  beach  for  some  minutes, 
emitting  strange  sounds,  and  waving  ai)out  tlieir 
splay  feet  in  the  air,  in  the  most  ridiculous 
manner."  And  here  is  an  example  of  what 
these  sportsmen  saw  in  a  bird  they  had  "  for- 
tunately killed  :  "  "  The  stomach  was  distinctly 
divided  into  a  cardiac  and  a  pyloric  ]iortion, 
separated  b^'  a  short  and  narrow  interval.  Of 
these  portions  the  cardiac  division  possessed  a 
comparatively  feeble  muscular  coat,  and  was 
remarkably  glandular  ;  while  the  pyloric,  of  a 
somewhat  flattened  spheroidal  form,  was  ex- 
tremely muscular.  The  former  1  found  dis- 
tended, witji  a  firm  mass  of  semi-digested  shi]i 
biscuit,  wiiile  the  latter  contained  the  two  man- 
dibles of  a  small  cephalopod." 


BIRDS,    AND    HOW    TO    PAINT    THEM.  '        277 


Birds  in  English  Art. 

This  is  the  way  EngUsh  men  of  science  look 
at  birds,  and  English  painters  have  hardly  any- 
thing better  to  tell  us  of  them.    Art  in  this  kind 
may  be   divided   under  four  heads.     There  is 
first  of  all  common  still  life—"  dead  game,  with 
a  cut  lemon  and  a  glass  and  bottle — the  most 
wretched  of  human  stupidities."     Then  there  is 
stilUife,  with  some  enjoyment  of  colour — "fruit 
pieces,    usually    with    handsome   plate — things 
such  as  Lance  used  to  paint,  and  many  other 
suppliers  of  the  trade — not  worth  notice."    Very 
different   is  William   Hunt's  work,  whether  in 
fruit  or  birds — "  chiefly  doves — unique  in  ex- 
cellence,  bat   still    not  didactic."     And  finally, 
there  is  the  animal  painting  of  Landseer  and 
Mr.    Briton   Riviere.       Landseer,    however,    is 
"  strictly  only  a  horse  and  dog  painter  ;  he  sel- 
dom attempted  birds,  and  when  he  did  he  failed. 
Riviere  has  done  some  wonderful  ornithology — 
of  a  comic  kind — as,  for  instance,  in  his   '  An 
Anxious  Moment,'  in  which  a  flock  of  geese  are 
debating  whether  they  may  with  safety  pass  by 
an  old  hat."  * 


The  Artistic  View  of  Birds  ;  their  Feathers. 

The  true  portraiture  of  birds,  then,  is  one  of 
the  things  which  English  painters  have  still  to 

*  See  Appendix  I.,  p.  210,  for  a  reference  to  the  birds  of 
Mr.  Stacy  Marks. 


2/8  APPENDIX    IV. 

do,  and  Mr.  Ruskin's  pupils  would  find  plenty 
of  examples  in  his  own  studies  in  plumage  in 
his  drawing-school.  But  artists  will  never  be 
able  to  paint  birds  so  long  as  they  study  in 
modern  schools  of  science.  "  The  true  artist," 
Mr.  Ruskin  said,  in  a  former  Oxford  lecture,  "if 
he  wishes  to  paint  a  dog,  looks  at  him  and  loves 
him,  does  not  vivisect  him."  [See  Appendix  I., 
p.  206.]  So  it  is  with  birds.  Whatever  Science 
may  be  concerned  with  on  its  own  account,  as 
a  foundation  for  Art  it  must  look  at  a  bird's 
plumage,  not  at  the  contents  of  its  stomach. 
Mr.  Ruskin  laid,  therefore,  some  of  this  true 
scientific  groundwork  on  Saturday,  by  some 
notes  on  feather  analysis.  Birds,  he  said,  have 
three  kinds  of  feathers:  (i)  feathers  for  clothing, 
which  again  may  be  subdivided  into  flannel 
feathers  and  armour  feathers;  (2)  feathers  for 
action — either  feathers  of  force  in  the  wing,  or 
of  steerage  in  the  tail ;  and  (3)  feathers  for 
decoration  and  expression — which  either  modify 
the  bird's  form  (crests,  <'.^>-.,  or  tassels),  or  its 
colour,  by  lustre  or  pigment. 

Colours  in  Plumage. 

It  should  be  noted  generally  that  the  under- 
clothing, thedown,  is  alwayswhite  in  adult  birds ; 
and  the  prevailing  colour  of  the  upper  feathers, 
in  land  birds  of  temperate  zones,  brown,  and  in 
sea  birds  white.  "The  theorists  of  develop- 
ment," continued  Mr.  Ruskin,  "say,  1  suppose, 
that  partridges  get  brown  by  looking  at  stubble, 


"  BIRDS,    AND    HOW    TO    PAINl'    THEM."        2/9 

seagulls  white  by  looking  at  foam,  and  jackdaws 
black  by  looking  at  clergymen.  The  theory  at 
first  is  plausible,  as  are  the  ideas  of  development 
in  general,  to  people  who  like  guessing  better 
than  thinking  ;  but  you  may  see  its  fallacy  in  an 
instant  by  reflecting  that  if  sea  birds  were  really 
coloured  by  the  sea,  they  would  be  blue,  not 
white ;  if  land  birds  were  coloured  by  their 
woods,  they  would  be  green,  not  brown ;  and 
that  birds  of  darkness,  both  in  feather  and 
spirit,  must  have  been  suited  with  sable,  not  by 
our  cathedral,  but  our  manufacturing  towns." 
Coming  ne.xt  to  force  feathers  and  decorative 
feathers,  Mr.  Ruskin  noted  that  they  are  usually 
reserved  and  quiet  in  colour.  "  There  is  no 
iridescent  eagle,  no  purple  and  golden  seagull ; 
while  a  large  mass  of  coloured  birds — parrots, 
pheasants,  humming  birds — seem  meant  for 
human  amusement.  Seem  meant — dispute  it  if 
you  will :  no  matter  what  they  seem,  they  are 
the  most  amusing  and  infinitely  delicious  toys, 
lessons,  comforts,  amazements,  of  human  exist- 
ence.    Think  of  it,  for  here  is  a  curious  thing." 


Catcliiiig  Butterflies — and  Feathers. 

"  Ever  since  I  have  known  children,"  Mr. 
Ruskin  said,  in  conclusion,  "or  heard  talk  of 
them,  I  have  noticed  that  they  liked  running 
after  butterflies,  and  are  represented  in  poetical 
vignettes  as  if  that  were  an  amiable  occupation 
of  theirs.  I  would  give  any  child  I  had  the  care 
of  a  good  horsewhip  or  ponywhip  cut  over  the 


280  APPENDIX    IV. 

shoulders  if  I  caught  it  running  after  a  butterflj-. 
The  way  to  see  a  butterfly  is,  as  for  everything 
else,  to  see  it  alive.  If  j'ou're  quiet  enough  it 
will  settle  under  your  nose  or  on  3'our  sleeve ; 
and  if  it's  a  rare  one,  and  you  don't  kill  it,  it  will 
be  less  rare  next  year,  until  you  may  have  purple 
emperors  flying  about,  as  plentiful  as  now  you 
have  smuts.  But  also  when  you've  got  it  and 
pinned  it  wriggling  on  a  cork,  what's  the  good 
of  it  ?  It  is  merely  an  ill-made  bird,  the  inter- 
mediate thing  between  a  bird  and  a  worm.  It 
has  wings,  but  is  for  the  most  part  more  blown 
about  by  them  than  lifted ;  it  has  legs,  but  it 
can't  hop  with  them  or  catch  anything  with 
them  ;  it  has  brains,  but  never  has  the  least  idea 
where  it's  going  ;  it  has  eyes,  but  doesn't  see 
anything  particular  with  them  that  1  know  of; 
ears,  perhaps,  I  don't  know  ;  voice,  I  don't  know  ; 
anyhow,  it  can't  whistle.  Feathers  it  has,  which 
rulD  oft'  if  you  touch  them,  like  so  much  mildew. 
A  precious  sort  of  thing  to  catch  and  transfix 
what  poor  little  life  and  succulent  pleasure  the 
creature  has  evermore  out  of  its  body,  that  you 
may  pin  it  on  your  hat  and  say  it's  the  Jackiana 
Tomfooliensis  !  But  I  will  tell  you  what  you 
can  catch,  and  catch  innocently — feathers;  and 
a  single  feather  has  more  to  stud}'  in  it  than  fifty 
butterflies.  Here's  Christmas  coming — general 
roast  turkey  and  goose-pie  time.  You  know  I'm 
no  vegetarian.  I  wouldn't  have  you  dine  on 
nightingales'  tongues  ;  but  quantities  of  birds 
are  born,  like  sheep,  to  be  finally  dined  on. 
Well,  you  go  and  help  the  cook  to  pluck  her 


"birds,  and  how  to  paint  them."     281 

game,  and  in  a  single  Christmas  you  may 
gather  plumage  enough  to  be  a  wonder  to  you 
all  your  days.  Begin  with  the  pheasant.  Put 
the  characteristic  breast,  shoulder,  wing,  and 
tail  feather  into  explicable  order,  prettily  stitched 
down  on  cardboard,  or  velvet,  or  anything  that 
sets  them  off.  Then  put  the  feathers  of  any 
other  birds  you  can  get  hold  of  into  the  same 
order — that  is  to  say,  put  the  main  feather  of 
a  seagull's  wing,  a  swallow's,  an  owl's,  a  phea- 
sant's, and  a  barn-door  fowl's  side  by  side — 
similarly  the  main  central  types  of  breast 
feather,  tail  feather,  and  so  on.  Then  draw 
their  outlines  carefully,  then  their  patterns  of 
colour,  then,  analyzed  up  to  the  point  of  easy 
magnifying,  their  shafts  and  filaments,  and  see 
what  a  new  world  of  beauty  you  will  have 
entered  into — before  the  sun  turns  to  go  up 
hill  again." 


"Arise,  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and  come 
away." 

"And  when  he  does  turn  up  hill  again,  if 
any  of  you  care  to  put  your  lives  a  little  to 
rights,  and  to  prime  your  own  feathers  for  what 
flight  is  in  them — don't  go  to  London,  nor  to 
any  other  town  in  the  spring — don't  let  the 
morning  winds  of  May  find  your  cheeks  pale 
and  your  eyes  bloodshot  with  sitting  up  all 
night,  nor  the  violets  bloom  for  you  only  in  the 
salesman's  bundles,  nor  the  birds  sing  around, 
if  not  above,    the   graves  you    have    dug    for 


282  APPENDIX   IV. 

yourselves  before  your  time.  Time  enough  you 
will  have  hereafter  to  be  deaf  to  their  song, 
and  ages  enough  to  be  blind  to  their  brightness, 
if  you  seek  not  the  sight  given  now.  If  there 
be  any  human  love  in  your  youth,  if  anj'  sacred 
hope,  if  anj-  faithful  religion,  let  them  not  be 
defiled  and  quenched  among  the  iniquities  of 
the  multitude.  Your  Love  is  in  the  clefts  of 
the  Rock,  when  the  flowers  appear  on  the  earth, 
and  the  time  of  the  singing  of  birds  is  come, 
and  the  God  of  all  Love  calls  to  you  '  from  the 
top  of  Amana,  from  the  top  of  Shenir  and 
Hermon,'  calls  to  every  pure  spirit  among  the 
children  of  men,  as  they  to  those  they  love 
best — 

'  Arise  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and  come  away.' " 


APPENDIX    V. 

A  Lecture  on   Landscape. 

(^Pall  Mai!  Gazette.  Decemher  loih,  1884.  Mr.  Ruskin 
himself  was  good  enough  to  subsequently  revise 
this  report.) 

Mr.  Ruskin's  final  lecture  to  his  pupils  for  this 
term,  given  at  Oxford  last  week,  began  with  an 
expression  of  the  "  disappointment  and  surprise 
which,  on  reviewing  the  results  of  my  lecturing 
and  working  here  for  upwards  of  twelve  years, 
I  feel  in  being  forced  to  the  sorrowful  confession 
that  not  a  single  pupil  has  learned  the  things  I 
primarily  endeavoured  to  teach,  nor  used  of  his 
own  accord,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  a  single  in- 
stance, the  examples  which  I  put  before  him  as 
most  admirable  in  my  especial  department  of 
art,  landscape." 

Examples  of  Landscape-drawing  at  Oxford. 

How  complete  and  numerous  these  examples 
are  every  one  knows  who  has  visited  the  Tay- 
lorian  picture-gallery  or  seen  in  the  "  Ruskin 


284  APPENDIX    V. 

Drawing-school "  the  insides  of  the  cabinets 
filled  with  Mr.  Ruskin's  own  drawings.  "You 
ma}' wonder,"  continued  Mr.  Ruskin,  "why  the 
examples  I  have  given  you  of  landscape  in 
the  school  are  my  drawings  and  not  Turner's. 
But  Turner's  are  of  a  finesse  be\'ond  what  has 
ever  else  been  attained,  and  for  that  reason  not 
useful  as  working  examples.  But  I  am  proud 
to  think  that  these  drawings  of  mine  "  (several 
of  which  were  exhibited  at  the  lecture),  "  done 
thirty  years  ago  at  the  foot  of  the  Matterhorn, 
are  entirely  right  as  examples  of  mountain 
drawing,  with  absolutely  correct  outline  of  all 
that  is  useful  for  geological  science  or  landscape 
art.  And  I  am  proud  to  think,  too,  that  though 
at  the  time  I  did  them  1  had  never  seen  Turner's 
drawings,  mine  are  on  exactly  the  same  plan 
as  his — that  is  to  say,  I  always  drew  an  ab- 
solutely right  pencil  outline  before  putting  in 
any  colour  whatever.  But  though  I  have  been 
preaching,  crying,  shrieking  to  you  that  this  is 
the  method  of  all  true  landscape  painting,  there 
is  not  one  of  you  who  sharpens  his  pencil 
point,  instead  of  seizing  his  biggest  brush  and 
going  dab  at  the  mountains  with  splashes  of 
colour.  And  then  in  the  gallery  up-stairs  there 
is  the  unequalled  collection  of  Turner  drawings, 
which  with  some  self-denial  I  gave  you  twenty 
years  ago,  and  which  has  lately  been  completed 
by  the  kindness  of  the  Trustees  of  the  National 
Gallery,  at  the  intercession  of  Prince  Leopold." 


A    LECTURE    ON    LANDSCAPE.  28$ 


Neglect  of  them  by  Mr.  Riiskii/'s  Pupils. 

Why  was  it,  then,  Mr.  Ruskin  returned  to 
ask,  that  none  of  his  examples  in  landscape 
had  been  used,  none  of  his  principles  adopted  ? 
"  I  perhaps  trusted  too  much  to  what  I  had 
before  written  on  the  subject  of  landscape,  and 
in  the  first  years  of  my  Professorship  drew  the 
attention  of  my  pupils  only  to  the  higher  con- 
ditions of  pictorial  imagination,  which  had  been 
occupied  in  religion  and  ethics.  As  it  has 
turned  out,  the  religion  of  England  being  in  its 
practical  power  extinct  before  her  science,  and 
the  ethics  of  England  extinct  before  her  avarice, 
everything  that  1  have  written  of  the  religious 
painting  of  Italy  has  been  useless,  until  lately 
in  the  form  of  guide-books  ;  while  the  value  of 
the  few  words  I  spoke  on  landscape  was  still 
more  hopelessly  effaced  by  the  vast  irruption 
of  sensual  figure-study,  patronized  by  the  now 
all-powerful  Republican  denii-iiwndc  of  the 
French  capital.  Respecting  the  general  rela- 
tions and  dignities  of  landscape  and  figure- 
painting,  I  purpose  very  earnestly  and  carefully 
to  address  you  in  a  spring  lecture.  But  with 
respect  to  the  especial  danger  and  corruption 
of  existing  schools  of  the  figure,  I  must  point 
out  one  or  two  chief  facts  for  your  immediate 
consideration." 


Landscape  Superior  to  Figure  Painting. 
"  First,  landscape,  however  feeble  or  fantastic, 


286  APPENDIX    V. 

cannot  be  definitely  immoral.  It  neither  mocks 
what  is  venerable  nor  recommends  what  is 
lascivious.  But  the  sale  of  figure  sketches  or 
paintings,  by  persons  of  inferior  talent,  depends 
almost  e.xclusivelj'  on  its  being  addressed  to  the 
vanity,  the  lust,  or  the  idle  malice  of  the  classes 
of  society  developed  by  the  corruption  of  large 
towns.  Secondly,  the  idea  of  greater  dignity 
naturally  attached  to  figure  painting  of  higher 
pretension,  because  it  implies  a  strict  course  of 
previous  academical  stud}',  entirely'  ignores  the 
primary  law  of  human  education,  that  the  more 
you  teach  a  fool  the  more  manifold  a  fool  you . 
make  him.  Nothing  is  so  melancholy,  nothing 
so  mischievous,  as  the  academical  imitations  of 
the  great  men  b}'  the  little  ones,  and  the  pompous 
display  of  laboriously  artificial  attainments  by 
men  of  faculties  inherently  and  natively  com- 
temptible.  During  the  first  half  of  this  century 
the  artists  of  England  were  divisible,  almost 
without  exception,  into  two  classes — men  of 
modesty,  sense,  and  industry,  who  were  forming 
a  pure  school  of  pathetic  and  meditative  land- 
scape, rising  with  the  quiet  flow  of  a  mountain 
well  out  of  the  formality  of  the  older  '  views ' 
of  this  and  that ;  and  men,  on  the  other  hand, 
of  mean  ambition,  foolish  sentiment,  and  vulgar 
breeding,  who  reduced  the  figure-painting  of 
the  Academy  to  the  inanity  from  which  it 
was  only  rescued  by  the  splendid  indignation 
of  Rossetti,  Millais,  and  Holman  Hunt — all  of 
them,  observe,  introducing,  if  not  as  the  basis, 
at  least  as  an    essential   and   integral  part  of 


A    LECTURE    ON    LANDSCAPE.  287 

their  conception,  a  landscape  elaborated  to  the 
last  grass  blade  and  flower  petal." 

Greater  Difficulty  of  Landscape. 

"  Thirdly,  I  will  not  in  this  brief  notice  touch 
on  the  actual  difficulties  of  landscape,  as  com- 
pared with  figure  painting,  but  I  beg  you  to 
observe  the  requirement  for  it  of  far  greater 
industry.  With  an  hour's  work  a  good  figure 
painter  can  produce  a  satisfactorily  realistic 
image  of  the  fairest  human  creature  ;  set  him  to 
paint  a  heathy  crag  or  a  laurel  coppice,  and  see 
what  he  will  make  of  it,  giving  him  an  hour  for 
every  former  minute,  or  sixty  hours  instead  of 
one.  Why,  then,  paint  it  with  so  much  care, 
do  you  say,  when  the  painting  of  the  pretty 
lady  is  so  much  nicer  ?  Well,  my  own 
answer  to  that  would  be,  Because  the  pretty 
lady  herself  is  so  much  nicer  than  the  painting, 
and  will  always  be  there  if  you  ask  her ;  but  the 
laurel  coppice  or  the  heather  crag  won't  come 
for  the  asking;  you  must  paint  them  or  forget 
them.  Returning  to  my  main  point,  note  that 
the  painting  of  landscape  requires  not  only 
more  industry,  but  far  greater  delicacy  of  bodily 
sense  and  faculty  than  average  figure  painting. 
Any  common  sign-painter  can  paint  the  land- 
lord's likeness,  and  with  a  year  or  two's  scraping 
of  chalk  at  Kensington  any  cockney  student  can 
be  got  to  draw,  effectively  enough  for  public 
taste,  a  straddling  gladiator  or  a  curly-pated 
Adonis.     But  to  give  the  slightest  resemblance 


288  APPENDIX    V. 

to,  or  notion  of,  such  a  piece  of  mountain  wild- 
wood  or  falling  stream  as  these,  in  this  little 
leap  of  the  Tees  in  Turner's  drawing,  needs 
an  eagle's  keenness  of  eye,  fineness  of  finger 
like  a  trained  violinist's,  and  patience  and  love 
like  Griselda's  or  Lad}'  Jane  Grey's." 


Deliglit  in  Landscape  Dependent  on  I/unian 
Sympathy. 

"  Without,  however,  further  reasoning  just 
now  why  or  with  what  feelings  we  should  try 
to  paint  landscape,  1  return  to  my  immediate 
business,  to  ask  you  why  in  no  single  instance 
any  of  you  have  painted  a  bit  in  mj'  way.  For 
one  of  you  that  used  to  go  to  Scotland  or  Swit- 
zerland a  thousand  go  now  ;  for  one  descriptive 
passage  in  poetry  or  novel  that  used  to  be  given 
before  Scott  and  Byron  told  3'ou  that  nature 
was  beautiful,  a  thousand  romancers  and  trou- 
badours paint  now  their  landscape  backgrounds 
for  personages  whom  they  couldn't  make  else  of 
any  account ;  and  yet  here  are  twelve  years  I 
have  been  your  drawing-master,  and  not  one  of 
you  has  brought  me  a  bit  of  Alpine  snow,  of 
Greek  sea,  or  of  English  greenwood,  drawn  with 
as  much  pains  or  heart  as  dear  old  William 
Hunt  puts  into  a  horn  tankard.  I  do  not  know 
what  your  answer  would  or  will  be.  But  my 
own  explanation  of  this  scorn  of  landscape  will 
certainly  surprise  you.  I  attribute  it,  and  I 
attribute   it  with  a  very  strong  conviction,  to 


A    LECTURE    ON    LANDSCAPE.  289 

your  having  no  sympathy  with  the  people  who 
inhabit  the  countries  you  visit.  No  passage  of 
mj'  old  books  is  more  often  quoted  than  that  in 
the  '  Seven  Lamps  '  as  to  the  entire  interest  of 
landscape  depending  on  our  sympathy  with  its 
history  and  inhabitants."  The  passage  in  ques- 
tion is  that  in  which  Mr.  Ruskin  describes  "  the 
broken  masses  of  pine  forest  which  skirt  the 
course  of  the  Ain  above  the  village  of  Cham- 
pagnole,  in  the  Jura,"  and  which  has  been 
quoted  above  (see  p.  if),  as  enforcing  the  de- 
pendence of  landscape  upon  the  human  element 
for  its  power  over  the  human  heart.  "  But  this 
point,"  Mr.  Ruskin  said,  "  I  have  never  enough 
reinforced.  The  lecture  in  which  I  partly  did 
so  was  never  published  ;  and  you  all  go  rushing 
about  the  world  in  search  of  Cotopa.xis  and 
Niagaras,  when  all  the  rocks  of  the  Andes  and 
all  the  river  drainages  of  the  two  Americas  are 
not  worth  to  you,  for  real  landscape,  pathos, 
and  power,  this  wayward  tricklet  of  a  Scottish- 
burn  over  its  shelves  of  low-levelled  sandstone.'' 
Mr.  Ruskin  here  showed  the  early  Turner  which 
he  has  lately  acquired,  and  to  which  he  referred, 
it  will  be  remembered,  in  a  former  lecture. 
(See  Appendix  II.,  p.  255.)  "Its  whole  force," 
he  said,  "consists  in  a  dreamy  and  meditative 
sense  that  men  were  once  living  there,  and  that 
spirits  are  still  moving  there — that  it  was  full 
of  traces  of  the  valour  of  our  ancestors,  just  as 
it  may  still  be  full,  if  3'ou  will,  of  the  sanctities 
of  your  love." 


i^ 


290  APPKNDIX    \'. 


Tile  Contrary  Case,  Illustrafedjrom  Evelyn's 
Diary. 

To  illustrate  the  contrary  case — the  absence 
of  delight  in  landscape,  accompanied  and  con- 
ditioned by  a  want  of  sj'mpath}'  for  the  people 
— Mr.  Ruskin  read  a  series  of  extracts  from 
Evelyn's  Diary,  written  for  him  bj'  his  god- 
daughter with  a  type-writer — "the  only  kind 
of  machine  of  which  I  do  approve."  First  there 
was  English  enjoyment  of  English  landscape  at 
Spie  Park,  where  the  house  had  "not  a  win- 
dow on  the  prospect  side."  That  is  the  rough 
type  ;  for  the  gentle  tj'pe  Mr.  Ruskin  referred  to 
ICveh'n's  building  a  study,  a  fishpond,  an  island, 
and  some  other  "  solitudes  and  retirements  "  at 
Wotton,  which  "  gave  the  first  occasion  of  im- 
proving them  to  waterworks  and  gardens."  As 
for  English  travellers'  enjoyment  of  French 
landscape,  "  we  passed  through  a  forest  (of 
Fontainebleau),  so  prodigioush'  encompassed 
with  hideous  rocks  of  white,  hard  stone,  heaped 
one  on  another  in  mountainous  height,  that  1 
think  the  like  is  nowhere  to  be  found  more 
horrid  and  solitary."  For  an  example  of 
"  French  and  characteristically  European  manu- 
factured landscape,"  Mr.  Ruskin  referred  to 
Evelyn's  description  of  Richelieu's  villa,  with 
its  "walks  of  vast  lengthcs,  so  accurately  kept 
and  cultivated,  that  nothing  can  be  more  agree- 
able," and  its  "  large  and  very  rare  grotto  of 
shell-worke,  in  tlic  shape  of  satyrs  and  other  wild 
fancys."  Thehuman  sympathy  involved  innianu- 


A    LECTURE    ON    LANDSCAPE.  29I 

factiired  landscape  is  to  be  seen  in  its  cost — 
"  Me  has  pulled  downe  a  whole  village  to  make 
roome  for  his  pleasure  about  it  " — making  a  soli- 
tude, and  calling  it  delight.  And  then,  lastly,  Mr. 
Ruskin  read  an  account  of  how  Evelyn  took  his 
pleasure  in  the  Alps,  passing  through  "strange, 
horrid,  and  fearful  craggs,"  and  treating  the  na- 
tives— as  only  the  British  tourist  knows  how. 
The  pious  Evelyn,  or  one  of  his  party,  had  a 
water  spaniel,  "a  huge,  filthy  cur,"  that  killed 
a  goat,  "whereupon  we  set  spurrs  and  endea- 
voured to  ride  away ;"  but  inasmuch  as  "amongst 
these  rude  people  a  verj'  small  misdemeanour  is 
made  much  of,  we  lay'd  down  the  money,  though 
the  proceedings  seemed  highly  unjust."  These 
proceedings  occurred  on  the  Simplon  Pass  ;  and 
Mr.  Ruskin  showed,  in  contrast  to  them,  a  draw- 
ing of  the  St.  Gothard,  by  Turner,  in  which, 
as  in  other  scenes,  it  is  a  human  interest  that 
gives  the  grandeur.  The  reader  will  remember 
in  this  connection  Mr.  Ruskin's  description  of 
the  Pass  of  Faido,  in  "  Modern  Painters,"  where, 
in  "  Turnerian  typography,"  the  "  full  essence 
and  soul  of  the  scene  and  consummation  of  all 
the  wonderfulness  of  the  torrents  and  Alps  lay 
in  a  postchaise  with  small  ponies  and  postboy." 
(See  ante,  p.  17.) 

From  the  Alpine  Club :  Modern  Manners. 

'Now,  I  dare  say,"  said  Mr.  Ruskin,  resum- 
ing, "you  all  think  you  have  improved  greatly 
in  sense,  and  good-nature,  and  love  of  scenery 


29^  APPENDIX    V. 

since  Evelyn's  time.  I  admit  there  are  a  certain 
number  of  j'ou  verj-  different  creatures  indeed. 
But  there  is  nothing  tome  so  amazing  in  Evelyn's 
injustice  to  the  poor  peasants,  and  terrified  hatred 
of^  their  Alps,  as  there  is  in  the  total  absence 
from  the  papers  of  the  Alpine  Club  of  the  small- 
est expression  of  any  human  interest  in  anything 
they  see  in  Switzerland  except  the  soaped  poles 
they  want  to  get  to  the  top  of,  and  their  continual 
exultation,  over  their  cheese  and  beer,  in  their 
guides'  legs  and  their  own,  without  ever  appear- 
ing conscious  for  an  instant  that  every  valley 
of  which  the  blue  breaks  through  the  cloud  at 
their  feet  is  full  of  the  most  beautiful  human 
piety  and  courage,  being  gradually'  corrupted 
and  effaced  by  European  vice,  after  contending 
for  long  ages  with  conditions  of  hardship  and 
disease,  prolonged  by  European  neglect,  folly, 
and  cruelty.  And  of  the  less  adventurous  Eng- 
lishman, content  with  flatter  mountain  tops,  here 
without  question  is  the  central  type  for  this 
hour."  Mr.  Ruskin  here  showed  Punch's  car- 
toon of  "The  Old  Lion  Aroused,"  to  which  he 
had  referred  in  a  former  lecture,  and  in  doing 
so  he  apologized  for  any  pain  that  had  been 
caused  by  his  thus  accidentally  ridiculing  Mr. 
Bright — for  whose  character  he  had  in  most 
things  a  great  respect,  although  it  was  "  an  awful 
sign  of  the  times  "  that  so  honourable  and  ex- 
cellent a  man  should  have  stood  upon  a  memo- 
rable occasion  in  the  House  of  Commons  to 
defend  the  adulteration  of  food  as  a  legitimate 
form  of  competition.     "You  are  all  of  you,"  Mr. 


A    LECTURE    ON    LANDSCAPE.  293 

Ruskin  resumed,  with  reference  to  this  cartoon, 
"  resolving  j'ourselves,  and  that  with  rapidity, 
into  this  kind  of  British  person,  and  this  kind 
of  British  standard-bearer — consumer  of  all 
things  consumable,  producer  of  nothing  but 
darkness  and  abomination,  with  his  foot  on  all 
that  he  once  revered,  his  hope  lost  in  all  that 
he  once  worshipped,  a  god  to  himself,  and  to 
all  the  world  an  incarnate  calamity." 


The  Return  to  Nature. 

"  Your  way  out  of  all  this  I  told  you  full 
fourteen  years  ago,  in  my  inaugural  lectures,  to 
not  one  word  of  which  any  of  you  have  prac- 
tically attended.  I  have,  indeed,  one  pupil-friend, 
an  accomplished  and  amiable  artist,  another  a 
conscientious  and  prosperous  lawyer — of  formal 
school  or  consistent  disciples  no  vestige  what- 
ever. The  time  may  yet  come  ;  anyhow  ne.\t 
year  I  have  again,  with  the  ever-ready  help  of 
Mr.  Macdonald,  to  begin  at  the  beginning,  and 
meanwhile  I  will  close  my  discourses  to  you 
for  this  year  by  re-reading  the  conditions  of 
prosperous  art  work  which  I  laid  before  you  in 
1S70."  The  passage  which  Mr.  Ruskin  read  is 
in  the  fourth  of  his  inaugural  "  Lectures  on 
Art,"  on  "  The  Relation  of  Art  to  Use,"  in  which 
it  was  laid  down  that  after  recovering,  for  the 
poor,  wholesomeness  of  food,  the  next  steps 
towards  founding  Schools  of  Art  in  England 
must  be  in  recovering  for  them  decency  and 
wholesomeness  of  dress   and   of  lodging,   and 


294  APPENDIX    V. 

then  after  this  that  "  nothing  be  ever  made  of 
iron  that  can  be  as  effectually  made  of  wood  or 
stone,  and  nothing  moved  by  steam  that  can  be 
as  effectually  moved  by  natural  forces.  .  .  .  And 
until  3'ou  do  this,  be  it  soon  or  late,  things  will 
continue  in  that  triumphant  state  to  which,  for 
want  of  finer  art,  your  mechanism  has  brought 
them  ;  that  though  England  is  deafened  with 
spinning-wheels,  her  people  have  not  clothes  ; 
though  she  is  black  with  digging  of  fuel,  they 
die  of  cold ;  and  though  she  has  sold  her  soul 
for  gain,  they  die  of  hunger.  Stay  in  that 
triumph,  if  you  choose  ;  but  be  assured  of  this, 
it  is  not  one  which  the  Fine  Arts  will  ever  share 
with  you." 

"All  this,"  said  Mr.  Ruskin,  in  conclusion, 
"  is  called  impossible.  It  may  be  so.  I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  its  possibility,  but  only  with 
its  indispensability.  And  at  anj^  rate  this  much 
is  possible  to  you — to  prefer  life  in  the  country, 
though  it  be  dull,  to  life  in  London,  though  it  is 
merry ;  to  look  at  one  thing  in  the  day,  instead 
of  at  twenty ;  and  to  think  of  that  one  in  such 
a  way  as  will  give  j'ou  some  love  for  man  and 
some  belief  in  God." 


REPRODUCTIONS    OF 
DRAWINGS    BY    MR.    RUSKIN. 


296 


For  Mr.  J^uxl'/>/'s  estimate  of  his  zvor/c  as  a  draughts7na)i, 
see  above,  p;p.  82,  83  n;  and  for  some  general  retiiarks  on  his 
drazvi7tgs  at  Oxford,  pf>.  76 — 89. 


297 


LIST   OF    PLATES. 


Plate     I.  The  Market  Place,  Abbeville. 

II.  Pine  Forest  on  Mont  Cenis,  above  St.  Michel. 

III.  View  of  Lucerne,  from  above. 

IV.  The  Old  Bridge  at  Lucerne. 
V.  Fribourg,  Switzerland. 

VI.  The  Glacier  des   Bossons,  Chamonix. 

VII.  The  Grand  Canal,  Venice. 
VIII.  Evening  in  Autumn  under  the  Castle  of  Hapsburg. 

IX.  Study  of  Kingfisher. 

X.  .Study  of  Young  Leaves  of  Plane. 

XI.  Part    of   the  Facade    of   the  Destroyed    Church    of    San 
MicHELE  .^T  Lucca. 

XII.  Study  of  Agrimony  Leaves. 

XIII.  .Study    of   Gneiss   with   its   Weeds  above   the   Stream    of 
Glen  Finlas 


299 


PLATE    I. 


wo 


THE    MARKET   PLACE,   ABBEVILLE. 

(i86S.) 

Reference  Series  6i.  Pencil-study  for  detail,  placed  in  the  Reference 
Series  with  other  similar  studies  "because  they  exhibit  some  archi- 
tectural characters  which  are  not  seen  in  photographs,  and  some- 
times present  features  of  the  buildings  which  are  now  destroyed, 
or  likely  soon  to  be  so"  (Catalogue  of  the  Reference  Series,  p.  22). 
This  drawing,  of  which  the  plate  opposite  gives  a  very  faithful 
representation,  is  a  good  example  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  fine  pencil 
work  (see  ante,  p.  81).  It  was  exhibited  by  Mr.  Ruskin  on  the 
occasion  of  his  lecture  at  the  Royal  Institution,  January  29th, 
1869,  amongst  other  illustrations  of  "The  Relations  of  Flam- 
boyant Architecture  to  Contemporary  and  Subsequent  Art,"  and 
was  described  in  the  Catalogue  (No.  43)  as  "  showing  gabled 
wooden  houses  of  the  16th  century  (though  all  much  defaced, 
the  two  in  the  angle  are  characteristic),  and  quoined  brick  and 
stone  houses  of  the  17th  century." 

"  The  gay  street  of  a  populous  yet  peaceful  city, — a  fellowship  of  ancient  houses 
set  beside  each  other,  with  all  the  active  companionship  of  business  and  sociable- 
ness  of  old  friends,  and  yet  .  .  .  each  with  its  own  character  and  fearlessly 
independent  ways, — its  own  steep  gable,  narrow  or  wide.^its  special  little  peaked 
windows  set  this  way  and  that  as  the  fancy  took  them,— its  most  particular  old 
corners,  and  outs  and  ins  of  wall  to  make  the  most  of  the  ground  and  sunshine, — 
its  own  turret  staircase,  in  the  inner  angle  of  the  courtyard, — its  own  designs  and 
fancies  in  carving  of  bracket  and  beam  "  (Lecture  on  Flamboyant  Architectwe, 
above  referred  to). 

"St.  Wulfran  itself,  and  all  that  remain  of  the  parish  churches,  are  of  the  same 
flamboyant  Gothic, — walls  and  towers  alike  coeval  with  the  gabled  timber  houses  of 
which  the  busier  streets  chiefly  consisted  when  first  1  saw  them.  .  .  .  The  com- 
mercial square,  with  the  main  street  of  traverse,  consisted  of  uncompetitive  shops, 
such  as  were  needful,  of  the  native  wares.  .  .  .  Above  the  prosperous,  serenely 
busy  and  beneficent  shop,  the  old  dwelling-house  of  its  ancestral  masters;  pleasantly 
carved,  proudly  roofed,  keeping  its  place,  and  order,  and  recognised  function, 
unfailing,  unenlarging,  for  centuries.  .  .  .  My  most  intense  happinesses  have  of 
course  been  among  mountains.  Hut  for  cheerful,  unalloyed,  unwearying  pleasure, 
the  getting  in  sight  of  Abbeville  on  a  fine  summer  afternoon,  jumping  out  in  the 
courtyard  of  the  Hotel  dc  I'Europe,  and  rushing  down  the  street  to  see  St.  Wulfran 
again  before  the  sun  was  oft"  the  towers,  arc  things  to  cheiish  the  past  for, — to 
the  end  "  (Pralcrita,  vol.  i.,  cli.  ix.) 


*-? 


-r-: 


^M-^^^^^^-lM^-^Mi 


^:^m^j^  : 


\  Braj.< 


p.-  ,  ■«'°' 


est-— T  -  w^   .-^  T'  i-  ._a^"s=t ^iS' 


n 

o 

<l 


a 


;oi 


PLATE   II. 


302 

PIXE    FOREST   OX    MOXT   CEXIS,   ABOVE   ST.    MICHEL. 

(1854  or  1856.) 

Educational  Series  275  (Case  xi.).  Study,  in  pen  and  wash,  touched 
with  white,  of  pine-foliage.  The  drawing  was  included  in  the 
exhibition  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  drawings  and  engravings  at  the  Fine 
Art  Society's  Galleries  in  1S78.  The  description  of  it  in  the 
Catalogue  (Xo.  27)  is  cited  below. 

"The  scene  differs  from  subjects  not  Swiss  by  including  hundreds  of  other 
scenes  within  itself,  and  is  mighty,  not  by  scale,  but  by  aggregation.  This  is  more 
especially  and  humiliatingly  true  of  pine  forests.  Nearly  all  other  kinds  of  w'ood 
may  be  reduced,  over  long  spaces,  to  undetailed  masses;  but  there  is  nothing  but 
patience  for  pines ;  and  this  has  been  one  of  the  principal  reasons  why  artists  call 
Switzerland  'unpicturesque.'  .  .  .  But  that  is  not  so;  it  is  only  that  zi^c  cannot  paint 
it  "  (Modi-ni  Painters,  vol.  iv.,  pt.  v.,  ch.  17,  §  40). 

"  Of  the  many  marked  adaptations  of  nature  to  the  mind  of  man,  it  seems  one 
of  the  most  singular,  that  trees  intended  especially  for  the  adornment  of  the  wildest 
mountains  should  be,  in  broad  outline,  the  most  formal  of  trees.  The  vine,  which 
is  to  be  the  companion  of  man,  is  waywardly  docile  in  its  growth,  falling  into 
festoons  beside  his  cornfields,  or  roofing  his  garden-walks,  or  casting  its  shadow 
all  summer  upon  his  door.  Associated  always  with  the  trimness  of  cultivation,  it 
introduces  all  possible  elements  of  sweet  wildness.  The  pine,  placed  nearly  always 
among  scenes  disordered  and  desolate,  brings  into  them  all  possible  elements  of 
order  and  precision.  .  »  .  Other  trees,  tufting  crag  or  hill,  yield  to  the  form  and 
sway  of  the  ground,  clothe  it  witli  soft  compliance,  are  partly  its  subjects,  partly 
its  flatterers,  partly  its  comforters.  But  the  pine  rises  in  serene  resistance  self- 
contained  ;  nor  can  I  ever  without  awe  stay  long  under  a  great  Alpine  clilf,  far  from 
all  house  or  work  of  men,  looking  up  to  its  companies  of  pines,  as  they  stand  on  the 
inaccessible  juts  and  perilous  ledges  of  the  enormous  wall,  in  quiet  multitudes,  each 
like  the  shadow  of  the  one  beside  it — upright,  fi.xcd,  spectral,  as  troops  of  ghosts 
standing  on  the  walls  of  Hades,  not  knowing  each  other — dumb  for  ever.  You 
cannot  reach  them,  cannot  cry  to  them ; — those  trees  never  heard  human  voice  ; 
they  arc  far  above  all  sound  but  of  the  winds.  No  foot  ever  stirred  fallen  leaf  of 
theirs.  All  comfortless  they  stand,  between  the  two  eternities  of  the  Vacancy  and 
the  Rock  :  yet  with  such  iron  will,  that  the  rock  itself  looks  bent  and  shattered 
beside  them — fragile,  weak,  inconsistent,  compared  to  their  dark  energy  of  delicate 
life,  and  monotony  of  enchanted  pride  : — unnumbered,  unconquerable  "  {Modem 
Painters,  vol.  v.,  pt.  vi.,  ch.  ix.,  §§  4,  7). 

"  1  have  always  felt  that  with  my  intense  love  of  the  Alps,  I  ought  to  have  been 
able  to  make  a  drawing  of  Chamouni,  or  the  Vale  of  Cluse,  which  should  give 
people  more  pleasure  than  a  photograph  ;  but  I  always  wanted  to  do  it  as  1  saw  it, 
and  engrave  pine  for  pine,  and  crag  for  crag,  like  Albert  DUrer.  I  always  broke 
my  strength  down  for  many  a  year,  always  tiring  of  my  work,  or  finding  the  leaves 
drop  off,  or  the  snow  come  on,  before  I  hati  well  begun  what  1  meant  to  do.  If  1 
had  only  counted  my  pines  first,  and  calculated  the  number  of  hours  necessary  to  do 
them  in  the  manner  of  Dflrer  I  "  (Afornings  in  Florence,  p.  141). — "  Turner  counted 
his  pines,  or  at  least  estimated  their  uncountablcncss.  1  did  not  understand  his 
warning,  and  went  insanely  at  them,  at  first,  thinking  to  give  some  notion  of  them 
by  sheer  labour.  This  '  Pass  of  the  Cenis '  was  one  trial  of  the  matter.  The  place 
itself,  a  glorious  piece  of  Alpine  wilderness,  radiant  with  cascades  and  (lowers 
among  the  forest  glades — the  modern  traveller  passes  beneath  it  after  some  eighteen 
hours'  night  and  morning  travel,  in  wearied  looking  out  for  the  custom-house  at 
Modanc,  and  derives  much  benefit,  doubtless,  from  the  dews  of  morning  on  those 
wild-wood  glens.  Hut  one  couldn't  draw  them  with  pen  and  sepia,  I  found  ;  nor, 
even  with  one's  best  pains,  in  '-.it.  r  ■■■■  -  "  ■  \ '../.  <  l>y  Mr.  linskin  on  his  Collection  of 
Drawings,  etc.,  pp.  1 1 7,  IIS 


o 


2; 

o 


o 
w 

2 


"^■MMIhdiiuS^ 


303 


PLATE    III. 


304 


VIEW   OF    LUCERNE,    FROM   ABOVE. 
(1866.) 

Educational  Series  117  (Case  v.).  Pencil  drawing  on  tinted  paiier  ;  an 
"  elementary  illustration  of  landscajie.''  The  drawing  is  one  of 
several  selected  by  Mr.  Ruskin  to  enforce  on  his  pupils  the  use  of 
pure  pencil  outline  as  "  the  most  valuable  of  all  means  of  obtaining 
such  memoranda  of  any  scene  as  may  explain  to  another  person, 
or  record  for  yourself,  what  is  most  important  in  its  features  " 
{Laivs  of  Fi'solc,  ch.  iv.,  §  19).  The  drawing  was  included  in  the 
exhibition  at  the  Fine  Art  Society's  Galleries  in  1878  (No.  40),  and 
was  described  as  follows  : — 

"  I  spent  the  summers  of  some  half-dozen  years  in  collecting  materials  for 
etchings  of  Friboiirg,  Lucerne,  and  Geneva,  but  had  to  give  them  all  up, — the 
modern  mob's  madness  destroj'ing  all  these  towns  before  I  could  get  them  drawn, 
by  the  insertion  of  hotels  and  gambling-houses  exactly  in  the  places  where  they 

would  kill  the  effect  of  the  whole Outline  of  general  view  (showing)  .  .  . 

what  I  have  finally  adopted  in  manner  of  pencil  drawing ;  and  I  believe  my  pupils 
will  find  it  a  satisfactory  one,  for  rendering  the  essential  qualities  of  form  "  (Notes 
by  Mr.  Riishiit  on  his  Collcciion  of  Draiuings,  f/r.,  pp.  130,  l^l). 


■■-V.  #.«i^i.-:^,^-'■■' 


^i 


^" 


>,* 

t. 


s 


12; 

w 
o 

O 


w 
o 


305 


PLATE   IV. 


20 


3o6 


THE    OLD    BRIDGE   AT    LUCERNE. 
(1862.) 

Educational  Series  116  (Case  v.)  Water-colour  drawing.  The  deli- 
cate mingling  of  green  and  blue  reflections  which  are  peculiar  to 
the  Reuss  at  Lucerne  is  beautifully  rendered  in  the  original,  but 
the  effect  is  necessarily  lost  in  this  reproduction. 

"  The  unhappy  alterations  which  have  lately  talsen  place  in  the  town  of  Lucerne 
have  still  spared  two  of  its  ancient  bridges ;  both  of  which,  being  long  covered 
walks,  appear,  in  past  times,  to  have  been  to  the  population  of  the  town  what  the 
Mall  was  to  London,  or  the  Gardens  of  the  Tuilerics  are  to  Paris.  For  the  continual 
contemplation  of  those  who  sauntered  from  pier  to  pier,  pictures  were  painted  on 
the  woodwork  of  the  roof  These  pictures,  in  the  one  bridge,  represent  all  the 
important  Swiss  battles  and  victories  ;  in  the  other  they  are  the  well-known  series 
of  which  Longfellow  has  made  so  beautiful  a  use  in  the  Golden  Legend,  the  Dame 
of  Death.  Imagine  the  countenances  with  which  a  committee,  appointed  for  the 
establishment  of  a  new  'promenade'  in  some  flourishing  modern  town,  would 
receive  a  proposal  to  adorn  such  promenade  with  pictures  of  the  Dance  of  Death  ! 
Now  just  so  far  as  the  old  bridge  at  Lucerne,  witli  the  pure,  deep,  and  blue  water 
of  the  Reuss  eddying  down  between  its  piers,  and  with  the  sweet  darkness  of  green 
hills,  and  far-away  gleaming  of  lake  and  Alps  alternating  upon  the  eye  on  either 
side ;  and  the  gloomy  lesson  frowning  in  the  shadow,  as  if  the  deep  tone  of  a  passing 
bell,  overhead,  were  mingling  for  ever  with  the  plashing  of  the  river  as  it  glides 
by  beneath  ;  just  so  far,  I  say,  as  this  dilTers  from  the  straight  and  smooth  strip  of 
level  dust,  between  two  rows  of  round-topped  acacia  trees,  wherein  the  inhabitants 
of  an  English  watering-place  or  French  fortified  town  take  their  delight, — so  far 
I  believe  the  life  of  the  old  Lucernois,  with  all  its  happy  waves  of  light,  and  moun- 
tain strength  of  will,  and  solemn  expectation  of  eternity,  to  have  dill'ercd  I'rom  the 
generality  of  the  lives  of  those  who  saunter  for  their  habitu.1l  hour  up  and  down  the 
modern  promenade  "  {Modern  Painters,  vol.  \\.,  \i\,  v.,  ch.  xix.,  §§  10,  1 1). 


M 


t 


m 

(XI 

o 

t> 

■< 

w     > 

O  M 

fi 

m 

p 

J 
o 

K 
W 
H 


307 


PLATE   V. 


3o8 


FRIliOURG,    SWITZERLAND. 

(1856.) 

Educational  Series  114  (Case  v.)  A  pen-sketch,  made  at  the  same 
time  as  the  drawings  of  Fribourg  which  are  included  in  Alodern 
Painters.  ("  1856.  With  my  father  and  mother  to  Geneva  and 
Fribourg.  'J" wo  drawings  at  Fribourg  took  up  the  working  summer. 
My  father  begins  to  tire  of  the  proposed  work  on  Swiss  towns,  and 
to  inquire  whether  the  rest  of  Modern  Painters  will  ever  be  done." 
— Pralerita,  iii.,  23.) 

"  The  notablest  thing  in  tlie  town  of  Fribourg  is,  that  all  its  walls  have  got 
flexible  spines,  and  creep  up  and  down  the  precipices  more  in  the  manner  of  cats 
than  walls ;  and  there  is  a  general  sense  of  height,  strength,  and  grace,  about  its 
belts  of  tower  and  rampart,  which  clings  even  to  every  separate  and  loss  graceful 
piece  of  them  when  seen  on  the  spot ;  so  that  the  hasty  sketch,  expressing  this, 
has  a  certain  veracity  wanting  altogether  in  the  daguerreotype  "  (MoiUni  Painters, 
vol.  iv.,  pt.  v.,  ch.  2,  §  23"). 


P5 
Eh 


D 
O 
W 


.     ^  "^?^»>^ 


309 


PLATE  VI. 


no 


THE   CxLACIER   DES    BOSSONS,   CHAMONIX. 

(?   1854.) 

Reference  Series  91.  Pen  and  wash  (warm  sepia)  touched  with  white. 
One  of  the  very  numerous  sketches  made  by  Mr.  Kuskin  at 
Chamonix  as  studies  for  the  chapters  on  Mountain  Forms  in 
the  fourth  voknne  of  Modern  Pahiters. 


•A 

O 

a 
w 

u 


•a 
o 


o 


p 

g 
o 

o 


3" 


PLATE   VII. 


!I2 


THE   (IRANll    CANAL,   VENICE. 
(1870.) 

K(f(rcnce  Series  66.  Pencil  sketch  (see  passage  from  the  Catalogue  to 
the  Reference  Series,  cited  on  Plate  I.)  This  sketch — "given  up 
in  despair  " — was  included,  with  some  other  Venetian  studies,  in 
the  exhibition  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  drawings  in  1878.  The  following 
passage  in  the  Catalogue  of  that  exhibition  refers  to  these  Venetian 
drawings  : — 

"  It  is  totally  beyond  any  man's  power,  unless  on  terms  of  work  like  Albert 
Diirer's,  to  express  adequately  the  mere  '  contents "  of  architectural  beauty  in  any 
general  view  on  the  Grand  Canal.  .  .  .  (This)  may  serve  to  give  the  reader  some 
idea  of  the  mere  quantity  which  must  be  put  into  any  faithful  view  of  Venice.  And 
here  I  will  venture  to  say  a  few  words  respecting  the  labour  I  have  had  to  go 
through  in  order  to  make  sure  of  my  facts,  in  any  statements  1  have  made  respect- 
ing either  Architecture  or  Painting.  No  judgment  of  art  is  possible  to  any  person 
who  docs  not  love  it,  and  only  great  and  good  art  can  be  truly  loved  ;  nor  that, 
without  time  and  the  most  devoted  attention.  Foolish  and  ambitious  persons  think 
they  can  form  their  judgment  by  seeing  much  art  of  all  kinds.  They  see  all  the 
pictures  in  Italy ; — all  the  architecture  in  the  world — and  nearly  make  themselves 
as  incapable  of  judgment  as  a  worn-out  Dictionary.  But  from  my  youth,  I  was 
protected  against  this  fatal  error  by  intense  love  for  particular  places;  returning  to 
them  again  and  again,  until  I  had  exhausted  what  was  exhaustible  (and  therefore 
bad),  and  thoroughly'  fastened  on  the  inexhaustible  good.  To  have  well  studied 
one  picture  by  Tintoret,  one  by  Luini,  one  by  Angelico,  and  a  couple  of  Turner's 
drawings,  will  teach  a  man  more  than  to  have  catalogued  all  the  galleries  of  Europe  ; 
while  to  have  drawn  with  attention  a  porch  at  Amiens,  an  arch  at  Verona,  and 
a  vault  at  Venice,  will  teach  him  more  of  architecture  than  to  have  made  plans  and 
sections  of  every  big  heap  of  brick  or  stone  between  St.  Paul's  and  the  Pyramids  " 
(No/es  by  Mr.  Riiskiii  oil  his  Collection  of  Drmviiigs,  etc.,  pp.  loS,  109). 


-  ■ '     —  1/  ^   c-^: 


.■■L., 


Pv.ti^^  101^1  CI. 


o 

S 
> 

o 
p 

2i 
<J 

p3 


313 


PLATE   VIII. 


314 


EVENING    IN   AUTUMN    UNDER   THE    CASTLE   OF 

HAPSBURG. 

(1858.) 

Educational  Series  299  (Case  xii.)  Water-colour  drawing.  The  distant 
mountains,  being  blue  in  the  original,  have  been  necessarily  lost  in 
this  reproduction. 

Mr.  Ruskin's  landscape-subjects  arc  generally  chosen  for  their  human  interest 
(sec  pp.  17,  288).  Some  reflections  suggested  by  the  scene  here  depicted — "the 
centre  of  .Swiss  feudal  power,  Ilapsburg,  the  hawk's  nest  from  which  the  Swiss 
Rodolph  rose  to  found  the  Austrian  empire " — may  be  read  in  Mr.  Ruskin's 
liitiiigiiral  Address  at  the  Cambridge  School  of  Art,  p.  17  (in  On  the  Old  Road, 
i.,  423). 


H 

H 

< 
o 

W 

H 

P3 

«  6 

R  b5 
25  b 

D  m 

CO 

f-^  td 

0  *^ 

H  p, 
O  O 


'A 

l-l 

25 

H 
t> 

w 


315 


PLATE   IX. 


3i6 


STUDY   OF   KINGFISHER. 

(About  1 87 1  ?.) 

Rudimentary  Series  201.  Water-colour  drawing.  Tiiis  is  one  of  several 
"  exercises  in  colour  with  shade,  on  patterns  of  plumage  and  scale  " 
{Catalogue  of  the  Rudimentary  Series,  p.  21,  and  see  Fors  Clavigera, 
Letter  65,  p.  162).  'J'hese  exercises  were  done  by  Mr.  Ruskin  for 
the  purposes  of  his  Drawing  School,  and  I  have,  therefore,  dated 
this  one  tentatively  as  above. 

Mr.  Ruskin's  examples  of  birds,  flowers,  etc.,  were  expressly  chosen,  as  already 
explained  (see  pp.  80,  107),  with  a  view  to  interesting  his  pupils  in  mythology  and 
natural  history.  His  remarks  on  the  kingfisher  will  be  found  in  Lecture  IX.  of  The 
Eagle's  Nest.  "  To-day,  as  we  arc  about  to  begin  our  exercises  in  bird-drawing,  1 
think  it  may  interest  you  to  review  some  of  the  fables  connected  with  the  natural 
history  of  a  single  bird,  and  to  consider  what  effect  the  knowledge  of  such  tradition 
is  likely  to  have  on  our  mode  of  regarding  the  animated  creation  in  general.  .  .  .  The 
Halcyon,  whose  mythic  history  I  am  about  to  read  to  you,  belongs  essentially  and 
characteristically  to  the  order  of  pie.">,  picae,  or  painted  birds,  which  the  Greeks 
continuallj' opposed  in  their  thoughts  and  traditions  to  the  singing  birds,  represent- 
ing the  one  by  the  magpie,  and  the  other  by  the  nightingale,  etc." 


w 
w 

CO 

E 

t-H 

o 

>> 
a 
ti 

H 


317 


PLATE   X. 


3'8 


STUDY   OF  YOUNG    LEAVES   OF    PLANE,    IN    LIC.HT 
AND   SHADE. 

(?  1857.) 

Educational  Series  254  (Case  xi.)  Pen  and  wash  (violet  carmine,  a 
favourite  colour  with  Mr.  Ruskin),  touched  with  white,  on  tinted 
paper.  This  is  one  of  several  examples  of  foliage  :  "  These  old 
sketches  of  mine  may  be  useful  as  showing  the  pleasantness  of 
the  simplest  forms  of  foliage  when  carefully  outlined."  This  study 
closely  resembles  several  in  Modern  Painters,  and  I  liave  therefore 
dated  it  tentatively  as  above. 


< 
ft 

O 


H 
1> 
<1 

w 

a 

[Hi 
P 
O 

N 

(=( 
o 

N 
Q 

D 
H 


319 


PLATE   XI. 


520 


PART  OF  THE  FACADE  OF  THE  DESTROYED  CHURCH 
OF    SAN     MICHELE    AT    LUCCA    AS    IT    APPEARED 

IX   .845. 

Educational  Series  84  (Case  iv.)  Sketched  in  water-colour,  on  the 
spot,  in  1845  ;  "given  (among  other  examples  of  Italian  Gothic) 
to  illustrate  the  Itahan  use  of  coloured  marbles."  The  church 
"was  destroyed  by  having  its  fa<;ade,  one  of  the  most  precious 
twelfth-century  works  in  Italy,  thrown  down,  and  rebuilt  with 
modern  imitative  carving  and  the  heads  of  the  King  of  Sardinia 
and  Count  Cavour  instead  of  its  Lombardic  ones  "  {Cafa/o^uc  of 
t/ie  Educational  Series,  p.  39).  An  illustration  of  a  portion  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  fai^ade  shown  in  this  sketch  was  drawn  and 
sketched  by  Mr.  Ruskin  for  Seven  Lamps  (Plate  VI.)  The  archi- 
tectural features  of  tlie  building  are  fully  discussed  in  that  work 
(ch.  iii.) 

"  In  1S45,  'h*^  '^''^'  volume  of  Modcyii  Painters  having  already  begun  to  make 
its  maris,  I  thought  it  necessary  to  look  more  carefully  at  some  of  the  pictures  at 
Florence  and  Venice  before  proceeding  with  the  essay.  .  .  .  The  road  usually  taken, 
at  that  time,  bj'  travellers  entering  Italy  from  the  Riviera,  left  the  coast  at  Massa 
to  avoid  the  Pisan  Marcmma,  and  passed  through  the  southern  valleys  of  the 
Carrara  hills  to  I.ucca.  Where,  with  all  my  new  knowledge  and  freshness  of 
acceptancy,  I  found,  as  if  never  seen  before,  the  inlaid  architecture  of  San 
Michcle.  .  .  .  The  inlaying  of  San  Michele  as  opposed  to  Gothic /)iWr(Y/ lace-work 
(wliich  was  all  I  cared  for  in  Gothic  at  that  time),  and  the  pure  and  severe  arcades 
of  finely-proportioned  columns  at  San  Frediano,  doing  stern  duty  under  vertical 
walls,  as  opposed  to  Gothic  shafts  with  no  end,  and  buttresses  with  no  bearing, 
struck  me  dumb  with  admiration  and  amazement ;  and  then  and  there  on  the  instant, 
I  began,  in  the  nave  of  San  Frcdiano,  the  course  of  architectural  study  which 
reduced  under  accurate  law  the  vague  enthusiasm  of  my  childish  taslc,  and  has 
been  ever  since  a  method  with  me,  guardian  of  all  niy  other  work  in  natural  and 
moral  philosophy"  (Epilogue  to  new  edition  of  Modern  Paiiilers,  vol.  ii.  See  also 
Praierila,  vol.  ii.,  ch.  vi.) 


SAN    MICHELE,    LDCCA. 
XI. 


321 


PLATE   XII. 


21 


322 


STUDY   OF   AGRIMONY   LEAVES. 

(?  1857.) 

Ediicatiimal  Series  255  (Case  xi.)     Pen  and  sepia,  touched  with  white. 
Another  example  of  foliage  (see  under  Plate  X.  above). 


STUDY    OF    AGRIIJONY    LEAVES. 
XII. 


PLATE   XIII. 


324 


STUDY   OF   GNEISS   WITH    ITS   WEEDS   ABOVE   THE 
STREAIM   OF   GLEN   FINLAS. 

(i8s3-) 

Reference  Series  89.  A  study  in  lamp-black.  A  characteristic  drawing  : 
the  reproduction,  though  on  the  whole  successful,  scarcely  does 
justice  to  the  delicacy  of  detail  in  the  original,  especially  in  the 
left-hand  top  corner.  The  study  was  included  in  the  exhibition  of 
Mr.  Ruskin's  drawings  in  1878  (No.  45),  when  he  described  it  as 
follows  in  the  Catalogue  : — "  Old  drawing  of  Modern  Painters  time 
(1853),  which  really  had  a  chance  of  being  finished,  but  the  weather 
broke ;  and  the  stems  in  the  upper  right-hand  corner  had  to  be 
rudely  struck  in  with  body-colour.  But  all  the  wall  of  this  rock  is 
carefully  studied  with  good  method."  In  Praterita  (iii.,  21)  occurs 
the  following  note  : — "  1853.  Henry  Acland  in  Glen  Finlas  with 
me.  Drawing  of  gneiss  rock  made ;  now  in  the  School  at  O.xford. 
Two  months'  work  in  what  fair  weather  could  be  gleaned  out  of 
that  time."  The  well-known  portrait  by  Sir  John  Millais  of  Mr. 
Ruskin  bareheaded,  standing  on  the  rocky  margin  of  a  waterfall, 
was  painted  in  Glen  l-'inlas. 


STUDY    OF    GNEISS,    GLEN    FINLAS. 
Xlll. 


INDEX. 


Alexander,  Miss  ("Francesca  "),  her  drawings  at  Oxford, 
lOo;  her  Italian  studies  referred  to,  loi  n.,  250. 

Allen,  George,  appointed  Ruskin's publisher,  184;  engraver, 
189,  200;  Ruskin's  pupil  at  Working  Men's  College, 
125;  author's  visits  to,  at  Orpington,  185 — 200;  Car- 
lyle's  visit  to,  190. 

Alpine  Club,  The,  292. 

"Aratra  Pentelici,"  cited,  65  ;  referred  to,  16, 

Architecture,  Ruskin's  essential  principles  in,  14,  18. 

Art.  Duty  of  choosing  noble  subjects,  8;  Essential  truths 
and  corresponding  fallacies  about,  206;  Ideas  to  be 
conveyed  by — beauty,  10;  iinitaiion,  S;  power.  7  ; 
relation,  16;  IriUli,  9;  Origin  of,  5;  Relation  of,  to 
— history,  24;  life,  18;  material  progress,  20;  nwrality, 
l6;  religion,   15;  science,  20. 

"Art  for  Schools  Association,"  139. 

Arundel  Society,  The,  importance  of,  251. 

Beaumont,    Sir  George,   exponent  of  the   pre-Ruskinian 

criticism,  9. 
Beauty,  objective  standard  of,   11;  relation  of,  to  Art,  10 ; 

Spenser's    definition    of,    12;     "typical"    and    "vital" 

distinguished,  13. 
Beevek,  Miss,  Ruskin's  letters  to,  cited,  205  ».,  265  u. 


326  INDEX. 

Birds.  Lecture  on  "Birds,  and  How  to  Paint  them," 
272 — 282  ;  arrangement  of,  in  museums,  266 ;  colours 
of,  in  plumage,  278;  destruction  of,  274;  feathers,  278; 
in  English  Art,  210,  277,  27S. 

"Bishop's  House,"  The,  at  Meersbrook,  159. 

Bright,  John,  Ruskin  on,  292. 

BuNNEV,  The  late  W.  J.,  drawings  by,  at  Oxford,  92; 
picture  of  St.  Mark's,  by,  at  St.  George's  Museum,  158; 
Ruskin's  pupil  at  Working  Men's  College,  125. 

BuKGESs,  The  late  Arthur  (Ruskin's  assistant),  work  by, 
at  0.\ford,  91. 

BuRNE-Jo.vES,  Edward,  A.R.A.,  "entirely  masterful,"  99 ; 
"our  onlj'  artist,"  210;  designs  for  "  Alcestis  "  and 
"Jason"  by,  at  Oxford,  71;  "Psyche"  drawings  by, 
at  Oxford,  99,  112  ;  studies  by,  at  Oxford,  100. 

C.xRLYi.E,  Thomas,  on  Ruskin's  Gospel,  3,  10  ;  its  relation 
to,  4,  25  ;  influence  of,  on  Ruskin's  style,  208  ;  referred 
to,  162,  217,  252,  254. 

Carpaccio,  greatness  of,  210;  Ruskin's  discovery  of,  73  h  ; 
"  Parrot,"  bj',   ill  n. ;    "  St.  Ursula's  Dream, "  by,   73, 

256. 
"Cestus  of  Aglaia,"  referred  to,  2C8. 
Country  ?■.  Town  Liee,  162,  272. 
"Crown  of  Wild  Olive,  '  the  Sanction  of  Ruskin's  Gospel 

in,  37- 
Cork,  High  School  for  Girls,  May  Queen  Festival  at,  134; 
Ruskin's  gifts  to,  135. 

"  Eagle's  Nest"  cited,  71  n. 

"  Ethics  of  the  Dust  "  referred  to,  267, 

Evelyn's  Diary  cited,  290. 

Kaunthorpe,  Rev.  J.  P.  (Principal  of  Whitelands  College, 
q.v.),  127,  128,  133,  134;  his  index  to  "  Fors  Clavigera," 
122  n. 


INDEX.  337 

Fleming,  Albert,  revival  of  spinning  industry  by,   164 — 

173;  Ruskin's  interest  therein,  163,  l66. 
"  FoRS  Clavigera  "  cited,  26,  27,  64,   142,   143.   146;    its 

place  in  Ruskin's  Gospel,  34,  35. 

"  Fkanxesca,"  see  Miss  Alexander. 

GiORGiONE,  altar-piece  at  Castelfranco,  by,  25 1. 
Goodwin,  A.,  drawings  by,  at  Oxford,  9S. 
Gordon,  General,  Ruskin  on,  54. 

GOTTHELF,  JeREMIAS,    162,   254. 

Greenaway,  Miss  Kate,  May  Queen's  gown  designed  by, 

129,  132  (illustyation) . 
GiJNTHER,  Dr.,  and  Ruskin,  266. 

Hill,  Miss  Octavia,  and  Ruskin,  35. 
HiNKSEY.     See  under  Oxford  (road-digging). 
Hunt,  William,  drawings  by,  at'  Oxford,  92 ;    his   birds. 
277  ;  still-life,  288. 

Isle  of  Man,  St.  George's  Mill  at  Laxey,  173 — 178. 

JoWETT,  Professor,  and  Ruskin,  48. 

Keats,  Ruskin  on,  267. 

Landscape,  Lecture  on,  283 — 294  ;  contempt  of,  in  l8th 
century,  290;  how  dependent  on  human  interest,  17, 
288  ;  neglect  of,  283  ;  superiority  of,  to  figure-painting, 
285-2S8. 

Landseer,  Sir  E.,  277. 

Langdale  spinning  industry,  164  —173. 

Laxey.     See  Isle  of  Man. 

"  Lectures  on  Art,"  its  place  in  Ruskin's  Gospel,  34  ; 
referred  to,  62,  66,  67,  102,  106,  114,  213,  293. 

Leighton,  Sir  F.,  drawing  by,  at  Oxford,  98;  Ruskin  on, 
99- 


328  INDKX. 

Leopold,  Prince,  admiration   of,  for   Ruskin,  43  )/.,    144  ; 

visit  of,  to  the  Walkley  Museum,  148. 
"  Love's  Meixie  "  referred  to,  266,  274. 
Ll'ixi,  Copy  from  frescoes  bj-,  at  Oxford,  71. 

Macdoxald,  Alexander  (Master  of  the  Ruskin  Drawing- 
school),  57,  58,  59,  65,  67,  70,  265,  293. 

Machinery,  Ruskin's  views  on,  142,  175,  294. 

McWiiiRTER,  A.,  drawings  by,  at  Oxford,  98. 

Mallock,  W.  H.,  a  disciple  of  Ruskin,  43  h.  ;  on  Ruskin's 
Oxford  Lectures,  47  ti.,  49  ti. 

Manual  Labour,  dignity  of,  25,  45  ;  its  relation  to  Art,  25, 

Martin,  Miss  (Head-mistress  of  the  Cork  High  School  for 
Girls),  134. 

Martin's,  St.  (head-quarters  of  the  Langdalc  spinnhig  in- 
dustry), 168  (il/iislralion). 

May  Queen  Festival,  Ruskin's,  at  Whitelands  :  de- 
scription of,  127 — 133;  origin  of,  128;  at  Cork,  134; 
elsewhere,  134;  influence  of,  133,  134,  139. 

Meersbkook  Park  (site  of  the  new  St.  George's  Museum) 
described,  158 — 160;  exterior  of  museum  at,  158 
{itltislratioii) ;  interior  of  picture-gallery  at,  160  {illiis- 
Iralion) ;  "Bishop's  House  "  at,  159  (illuslralion). 

"  Modern  Painters,"  its  place  in  Ruskin's  Gospel,  33  ; 
main  principle  of,  6,  iS  ;  new  edition  of,  195—200; 
"  Readings"  in,  by  Ruskin,  205 — 210. 

"  Munera  Pulveris,"  its  place  in  Ruskin's  Gospel,  34. 

Museum.  See  Meersbrook  Park,  Oxford  Museum, 
Walkley  Museum. 

Navv,  Ruskin  on  the  British,  226,  257-9,  270. 

Oxford,  modern  "  improvements  "  at,  273. 

Oxford  Museum,  The,  47,  206,  266. 

Oxford,  Ruskin's  Work  as  Professor  at  :  his  published 


INDEX.  329 

volumes  of  lectures,  40;  other  literary  works  in  con- 
nection therewith,  41  ;  personal  influence,  42-47  ; 
road-digging,  43-45,  273 ;  his  pupils  (see  Leopold, 
Mallock,  Toynbee)  ;  his  lectures  described,  47-61  ; 
Ruskin  on  them,  47;  his  popularity,  48,  ?0$  n.,  264; 
first  Professorship,  38,  47,  62  ;  second,  39,  4S,  67  ; 
resignation  of  Professorship  and  rupture  with  Uni- 
versity,   115. 

Patience,  Chaucer's  conception  of,  26S ;  lecture  on,  264 — 
271  ;  St.  Theodore,  the  Venetian  type  of,  269. 

"  Pall  Mall  Gazette,"  The,  on  Ruskin's  re-election  to 
Slade  Professorship,  39  n.  ;  on  "  The  New  School," 
45  H. ;  cited  and  referred  to,  53,  loi  «.,  116  «.,  133, 
'55  "v  156  ".,  211,  217  n.;  Ruskin's  letter  to,  on  his 
resignation  of  the  Professorship,  115;  Ruskin's  refer- 
ences to,   164,  211,  257. 

"  Pleasures  of  England,"  69 ;  reports  of  the  lectures 
(from  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette),  2H— 263. 

•' PrjEterita,"  50«.,  76  «.,  124,  134. 

Profit-sharing.     See  Thomson. 

Prout,  drawings  by,  at  Oxford,  92. 

Publishing,  Ruskin's  system  of,  184 — 201. 

RivitRE,  Briton,  R.A.,  277. 

RusKiN,    John.     [1.    Personal.     11.    His    "Gospel."     111. 

His  'Work.     IV.  His  Lectures.     V.   His  Drawings. 

VI.  His  Books.] 

I.  Personal:  early  rising,  76  n.;  explanation  of  rup- 
ture with  Ctford,  1 15;  dislike  of  noise,  252;  gifts 
to  public  galleries,  97  ». ;  to  Cork  High  School, 
135  ;  to  'Whitelands  Training  College,  137 ;  in- 
dustry, 76  ;  personal  appearance,  50 ;  title  of 
"  Professor,"  39  ;  his  conversation,  45  ;  voice,  49  ; 
bust    of,    121;    and  see  frontispiece;   his   unique 


330  INDEX. 

equipment  as  art-teaclicr,  lo;  as  a  social  reformer, 
36,  46. 

II.  His  Gospel.     Principles  of  Art,  1-2 1  ;  applications 

to  life,  22-37  ;  its  relation  to  the  present  age, 
19-21;  the  essential  and  non-essential  in,  23; 
principles  of  politics,  24-29  ;  Political  Economy, 
29-33,  '79  ;  place  of  his  different  books  in,  33-35  ; 
its  sanction,  36 ;  its  relation  to  Carlyle,  4,  25 ;  its 
width,  23;  opinions  on — Carlyle,  3,  10;  Century 
Afnga^ine  (W.  J.  Stillman),  24 ;  Chesneau,  22 ; 
George  Eliot,  3  ;  Etlhibiirgh  Revkzv,  24 ;  address 
from  his  admirers  (1SS5),  30  </. 

III.  His   WoKK.      [a.  General    Remarks,      b.  Educa- 
tional,    c.  Industrial.] 

a.  His  practice  in  keeping  with  his  precept,  35,  123; 

his  munificence,  35,  36,  97;  his  iiuiiistry,  76; 
dispersion  of  his  energies,  66,  143. 

b.  His  interest  in  education,  122;  in  the  village  school 

at  Coniston,  123;  his  writings  on,  122;  his  books 
written  as  lectures,  1 23.  Sec  also  May  Queens, 
Oxford,  Walkley,  Working  Men's  College. 

c.  His  place  as  a  social  reformer,  36,  143 ;  agricultural 

experiments,  145;  revival  of  village  industries-  in 
Westmoreland,  163;  in  the  Isle  of  Man,  173 ; 
interest  in  "G.Thomson  &  Co's.  industrial  partner- 
ship," Iib2.     Sec  also  St.  George's  Guild. 

IV.  His  Lectures,     [a.  General  remarks  on.     h.  Par- 
ticular lectures  referred  to.] 

a.  Humour  of,  51,  209;  illustrations  at,  55,  242,  243, 

24s,  261  ;  iiilinii'li  of,  52,  S4  ;  impromptus  in,  53, 
21 1,  234,  252,  257  ;   Mallock  on,  47  «.,  49  11. 

b.  "  Art  of  England,"  58,  59  ;  "  Cistercian  Architecture," 

52  ;  "  Hirds,  and  1  low  to  Paint  them  "  (report),  272 
—282  ;  "  Klamboyant  Architecture,"  55  ;  Inaugural 
Lectures  at  Oxford,  62  ;  "  Patience  "  (report),  264 


INDEX.  331 

— 271;  "Landscape"  (report),  2S3— 294  ;  "Plea- 
sures of  England,"  53,  (reports),  21 1 — 263  ;  "  Read- 
ings in  'Modern  Painters'"  60,  (notes),  205 — 210  ; 
"  Storm  Cloud,"  56. 
V.  His  Drawings,  [a.  General  remarks  on.  b.  Par- 
ticular drawings  referred  to.  See  a/so  Repro- 
tluctioHS,  -with  no/us,  295 — 324.] 

a.  General    characteristics  of,    77,   81  ;  wide  range  of, 

81;  Edi)ibiirgli  Review  on,  82  k.  ;  Ruskin  on  his 
artistic  powers,  82  n. ;  Mr.  Whistler  on,  82  «. 

b.  Abbeville  market-place,  81  ;  Alpine  studies,  83  h., 

2S4  ;  Amiens  Cathedral,  81  ;/.  ;  Assisi,  sacristan's 
cell,  86;  "Dryad's  Crown,"  83;  "Epops  Car- 
paccii,"  III  H. ;  Fribourg,  87;  Grass,  87;  Lucca, 
San  Michele,  78,  85  ;  Lucerne,  87  ;  marsh  orchis, 
77:  partridge,  79  J  Palermo,  sketches  at,  84  ;  pea- 
cock's feather,  78;  Pisa,  chapel  of  "The  Thorn,' 
77  J  "Queen  of  Sheba,"  77;  "Purist  Landscape," 
83;  quartz,  78;  Rheinfelden,  87;  "Rock  of 
Arona,"  87  ;  rolled  gneiss,  78 ;  "  Rose  of  Demeter," 
87;  sketch  of  dead  bird,  124;  St.  Ursula,  73; 
Venice,  Grand  Canal,  81  ;  Verona,  tomb  at,  72. 
VL  His  Books.  Eloquence  of,  I  ;  style  of,  208,  209, 
268;  alliteration  in,  210;  profits  on,  192;  sales  of, 
193 — 195;  manner  of  publishing,  1S4 — 201  ;  piracy 
of,  in  America,  195,  200  ;  adopted  as  School  Board 
prizes,  194.  Sec  also  several  books  indexed  luider 
their  titles. 

RusKiN  Drawing  School,  The,  at  Oxford.     [1.  General. 
H.  As  A  School  of  Art.     III.  Its  Collections.] 

I.  General.  Its  objects,  63 ;  foundation  and  endow- 
ment, 65;  location  of,  65,  1 16-7  h.  ;  possible 
developments  of,  113 — 121;  use  as  model  for 
museums,  etc.,  75,  107,  119. 


332  INDKX. 

II.  As  A  School  of  Art:  65-70;   system  of  teaching 

at,  67,  79 ;  advantages  of,  70. 
in.  The  Collections:  70-121  ;  description  of  cabinets, 
73;  unexpectedness  of,  74;  Ruskin's  drawings 
in.  76-89 ;  woodcuts  (Durer,  etc.),  Sg ;  drawings 
by — Burne-Jones,  71,  99,  100,  112;  Burgess,  91; 
Bunney,  92;  "  Francesca,"  100;  Goodwin,  98; 
Hunt,  92;  Leighton,  98;  McWhirter,  98;  Prout, 
92 ;  Turner  {q.v.) ;  Ward,  96  ;  "  Standard  Series  " 
described,  loi — 106;  "Educational,"  106 — 112; 
"Rudimentary,"  113. 
Rydings,  Egbert.     See  Isle  of  Man. 

St.  George's  Guild,  140 — 163;  origin  of,  140;  purposes  of, 

141,   161  ;  agricultural  experiments  of,   145 ;  Museum, 

sec  Meersbrook  and  Walkley  ;  industrial  experiments 

in  connection  with,  161 — 183. 
"St.   Marks  Rest,"  257,  269. 
St.  Martin's,   Langdalc,  spinning  industiy  at,   164 — 173; 

description  of,  169 ;  view  of  St.  Martin's  {illustfatioti)^ 

168;  peasant-woman  spinning  (iVZ/Ls/rrtto//),  166;  "Old 

John,  the  weaver  "  (illiislralioii),  171. 
Science,   Modern,  Ruskin  on,   206,  210,   265  //.,  276,  278; 

relation  of  Science  to  Art,  20,  278. 
"  Sesame   and   Lilies  "   cited,    33 ;   its  place    in    Ruskins 

Gospel,  34. 
"Seven  Lamps  of  Architf.cture"  cited,  17,  209;  essential 

principle  of,  14;  its  place  in  Ruskin's  Gospel  referred 

to,  170,  2S9. 
Severn,  Arthur,  May  Queen's  cross  designed  by  (illiislra- 

lion),  129. 
Sewening,  Mr.  (picture-dealer),  255. 
Sheffield,  why  chosen  as  site  of  St.  George's  Museum, 

146,  155  ;  its  treatment  of  the  museum,  147,  156. 
Shelley,  Rubkin  on,  267. 
SociALis.M,  Ruskin's  relation  to,  178. 


INDEX.  333 

South  Kensington  system,  Ruskin  on,  64. 

Stage,  Ruskin  on,  210. 

"  Stones   of   Venice,"  its  place  in  Ruskin's  Gospel,   34 ; 

referred  to,  15. 
Swan,  the  late  Henry,  Ruskin's  pupil  at  Working  Men's 

College,   125  ;  first  Curator   of  St.   George's  Museum, 

154  II. 

Thomson,  George,  bis  industrial  partnership  described, 
178 — 1S3;  Ruskin's  interest  in,  182;  trustee  of  the 
St.  George's  Guild,  178. 

Tintoretto,   his  "  Doge    Mocenigo,"    72 ;    "  Paradise,"    59, 

251- 

Tolstoi,  relation  of  his  teaching  to  Ruskin's,  45,  145. 

Town  and  Country  Life,  162,  272. 

Toynbee,  Arnold,  a  pupil  of  Ruskin,  45. 

Turner  on  Ruskin's  Art-criticism,  8;  greatness  of,  14,  16, 
17;  "Modern  Painters,"  a  defence  of,  2oS  ;  small 
prices  obtained  by,  for  early  drawings,  207;  drawings, 
etc.,  by — "  Brignal  Banks,"  94  ;  "  Building  of  Car- 
thage," 16  ;  drawing  of  a  grove,  255,  2S9  ;  drawings  in 
Oxford  University  Galleries,  97,  284  ;  Farnley  interior, 
96  ;  junction  of  Greta  and  Tees,  94  ;  Leicester,  60  ; 
Loire,  94 ;  pen  and  sepia  studies,  95  ;  Pass  of  Faido, 
17,  291  ;  Ruined  Abbey,  95  ;  St.  Gothard,  291. 

"Two  Paths,"   14. 

Universities'  Settlements,  and  Ruskin's  teaching,  46. 
"  Unto   this   Last,"   its   place   in    Ruskin's    Gospel,    34 ; 
referred  to,  182;  cited,  209. 

■Verocchio,  "  Madonna  and  Child  "  in  St.  George's  Museum, 

149. 
'Vivisection,  Ruskin  on,  115,  116  ».,  206,  264. 

'Walkley  Museum,  purpose  of,   146  ;    general  description 


334  INDEX. 

of  its  contents,  147  ;  Prince  Leopold's  visit  to,  with 
Ruskin's  explanations,  14S — 154  ;  country  around, 
155;  visitors  to,    155;  principles   of  its  arrangement, 

■53,  156. 
Ward,  William,  his  copies  of  Turner,  96,  97  >i. ;  Ruskin's 

pupil  at  Working  Men's  College,  125. 
White,    William,    Curator  of  the    St.   George's  Museum, 

160  II. 
Wiiitelands  Training  College,  Chei«ea,  Ruskin's  gifts  to, 

137;  Kuskin  Cabinet  at,  13S;  Ruskin  Librarj' at,  137. 

See  also  May  Queen  Festival  and  Faunthorpe. 
Working  Men's  College  (London).     Ruskin's  connection 

with,  124;  his  method  of  teaching  at,  124;  Ruskin  and 

Rossetti  at,  125  ;  his  pupils  at — G.  Allen,  125  ;  Bunney, 

125;  Swan,  125;  Ward,  125. 


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